Cora Leigh and CUTENESS!

I had a photo shoot with this bit of preciousness...Cora Leigh.

She just turned one...

And did not like the fact that we made her stand by this fence...

And this flower matched her eyes to a tee...

She was quite perplexed by this fence that I just had to have her stand by...

And this is why I had her stand by the fence...for this cuteness to happen.

But then the fence was just too much.  Even her teddy couldn't help...

Yay for happiness:)

I've told her mom that Cora Leigh would fit in our gene pool...doesn't she look like my girls....aren't they all gorgeous:)

And sweet DeAnn with her one year old baby girl....with another baby on the way in about 5 months.

Caught a sneeze in action and just had to show you guys...

I love to shoot this age because they really don't know that you are taking their picture, which makes for true naturalness....is that a word....anywho.  DeAnn is a sweet friend of mine that needed some one year shots of Cora Leigh....and of course I volunteered.  We shot in downtown Watkinsville, GA, which is one of my favorite places to shoot.  I know its been quite a while since I've blogged, but what better way to ring in the Fourth...a day late...than with this blue-eyed beauty!

Is it ok to do another blog about knitting...?

Ok...so...I know, I know...it's been a really long time since I've blogged.  Our family has been through the flu and bronchitis and Josh has been traveling a lot lately.  So, what have I been doing....KNITTING!  I think its become my coping mechanism when life gets really chaotic.  It makes me focus, and it makes me sit, which are two things that I don't do very well.  So, don't get frustrated with me because I know this blog is about my photography....but at least I have pictures of my knitting...ahem.  In the past few weeks I have knit a shalom sweater, two cowls, and a scarf.  I'm currently working on a top for Darby, another cowl, a lace scarf, and a twisty scarf.  I keep adding new projects because I'm just crazy like that.  I have learned a ton of new stitches by just trying new projects and then YouTubing videos of how to do the stitches.  I'm thinking about starting an Etsy shop once I get enough projects under my belt and feel confident enough.  We'll see how that thought goes, though.  At least I'm having fun with it...at least that's what I keep telling myself...and my husband:)

Knitting Obsessed

My hat that I made in my Knitting 102 class...and a cowl that I whipped up...

The cowl has two twists in it...that are not supposed to be there...but now its an Andrea original.

And this is the scarf that I made in between my Knitting 101 and 102 classes...

The hat kind of resembles an acorn...and I'm ok with that...

Again, the cowl was not supposed to have these twists, and I don't know how they got there....but they did...and I'm ok with that.

It was supposed to just have the ridges...oh well.

I like my scarf, but its really itchy...I learned what yarn not to use for scarves.

And Sophie Grace wanted to participate...

With all of it on together...she's cute, huh:)

And now I'm working on a new scarf...with very soft yarn...alpaca if you're curious...Darby was.

And another cowl...that I'm REALLY trying to not get twists in...we'll see how that goes.

There are those out there...ahem...my husband...that might say I'm a bit obsessed with knitting these days.  I'm willing to look past the preconceived notions that "others" might have, and say that I'm seriously LOVING knitting.  It's relaxing to me, and I end up with an actual product that semi-looks cute...I'm learning, what can I say.  I have been on a yarn craze and found a ton for really cheap with an additional 30% off.  Lets just say that I'm set with yarn for a REALLY long time...ahem.  AND, I ordered a bunch of needles off of amazon so that I can do all sizes of knitting.  Obsession...maybe...muahahahaha.  Maybe I'll knit my husband a hat...he'll love that:)

Guess who's learning to read?

I love this kiddo...

I love to see the light in her eyes as she's learning...

I'm overwhelmed with pride watching her learn...

And she's so proud of herself...

I love to watch her love life and all its learning processes...

I have loved watching Sophie Grace this past school year and how much she is soaking in.  And its not just from preschool and learning her letters, how to write, and how to read.  I have loved watching her soak up the Gospel and what it means in her little mind of why Jesus died on the cross.  Now, a lot of the time, when she does wrong...aka, throw a temper tantrum, lie, hit her sisters, talk back to us...which she does a WHOLE LOT OF...its so neat to hear the words come out of her mouth that she is sorry.  And its so neat to walk through the process with her about when she does wrong, its sin, and that's why Jesus died for us.  He came, died, and rose again in order to pay the penalty for our sin nature.  Her eyes get really big, and her childlike faith is starting to kick in.  And, when I throw a temper tantrum, yell, and I'm mean to my kiddos, Sophie Grace ALWAYS reminds me that I'm sinning and that I need to ask for forgiveness...I'm continually put in my place.  It's good for me...and I really do think its good for her to hear me ask her for forgiveness when I do wrong.  It reminds me to rest in the Gospel, because I sure cannot do it on my own.  And, that's the constant struggle, isn't it?  I want to fix my sin nature, but I can't.  Hence, the Gospel....truly thankful.  

IKEA and Love

The cool lighting...

I need this lamp in my dining room...

The fun artwork...

Candles out the wazoo...

Lots and lots of bottles...

My girls would have ripped these to shreds if I would have brought them home...