Henderson Family Life

Christmas Time Is Here!!!

2011-12-24T07:30:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! Jesus is the Reason for the Season!

Happy Birthday USMC!

2011-11-12T14:25:00.000-08:00

We had a fabulous time at the ball this year! It is so much getting to get pampered, dressing up in a nice gown, and having a night away without kids! Thanks so much to the Cellon family for watching our kiddos overnight! This year I got my nails done, my hair curled, and eyelash extensions, and I love them! I have had blond stubs for eyelashes my whole life, and having pretty lashes now, I could totally keep this up, and I think I will for the holiday season!

Got my dress at a yard sale for $20, and I loved it, very comfy and loose! :)

My husband looks pretty good in uniform! :) I must admit, it's one of my favorite parts of the ball, seeing Steven dressed up! Lookin good babe!

Look Whoooos 4 and 1!

2011-11-12T10:48:00.000-08:00

We had an owl theme birthday party for Emma and Abby at the park by our house! It was a ton of fun, super simple, just desserts, and the kiddos loved it!

Emma wanted to blow out Abby's candle too!

Made these owls from pinterest, really cute, but really time consuming!

The acorns were yummy and very easy to make!
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Made my first pennant! It's hanging in the girls room too!

Happy Abby!

My three little owls! All the girls love their hats, and Emma won't take it off!

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-09T04:28:00.000-08:00

I was going to make their Halloween cosutmes, via pinterest ideas, but I found the bumblebee and ladybug costumes on sale at old navy, and decided to use a credit card point gift card that I had to save me some time. Soooo glad I bought them, because they LOVE playing with them, and put them on pretty much every day! I sat them down to take some quick pics, and Loved the way they turned out!

First Field Trips!

2011-10-27T12:43:00.000-07:00

Both girls had their first field trips last week, and they both insisted on wearing pumpkin hats! :)

Happy Birthday Abigail Faith!

2011-10-14T03:56:00.000-07:00

Happy 1st Birthday Sweet Abby!

Abigail means "my father's joy"....and you truely are the light of your parent's lives! Sweet baby Abby you bring us such my joy, with your sweet smile, and hilarious laugh. We love how you love to be held, even when it means we don't get much done. :)

Sweet Abby, you LOVE your big sisters. Your face lights up in the mornings when you see Gracie and Emma....and you love it when they climb in your crib to talk and play with you first thing in the morning. Nothing can make you laugh as much as Gracie, you crack up when she sings to you, hullahoops, and plays peek a boo with you.

Sweet Abigail, you are so cute when you crinkle your nose and make funny faces at your sisters!

We love your beautiful gray eyes, they are gorgeous!

Baby Abby, we are so thankful for the blessing that God has given to our family when He gave us you. Happy Birthday our sweet girl!

Hannah Ranea and Lydia Faith

2011-08-11T05:19:00.000-07:00

Sweet Hannah...born 3 pounds 11 oz, she is up to 4 pounds now! She is so sweet and beautiful, looks like Heather, has the tiniest head you have ever seen! I got to hold her on my birthday and it was the best birthday present ever!

Beautiful Lydia, born 4 lbs 12 oz, she is up to 4 lbs 13 oz today.....She is no longer in the isolet and is holding her temperature great, and best news.....should go home on Friday!

I am in love with my new nieces and being around them has made it worth it living here in OK! They are both nursing great, and Hannah should be home on Monday or Tuesday! Praise the Lord for these tiny miracles!

9 months old!

2011-07-19T05:54:00.000-07:00

Abby is now 9 months old.....and big news this week...She finally started scooting backwards....so hopefully she will be crawling soon. I'm personally in no rush, I like it that she stays in one place! :)

Swim Time

2011-07-19T05:49:00.000-07:00

We have been living in the water lately....with 100+ heat for the past 28 days and no end in site, it is the only out door activity that will keep us cool! The girls love their backyard pool!

They also are doing swim lessons together and doing great! Gracie is becoming quite a little fish, but Emma still gets scared. She will put her face in the water, but won't go where she can't touch, even with her life vest on...

Gracie and Emma's friends Kylie and Korbin are here visiting their grandparents from Alaska, and we have had a great time playing with them. The girls love sliding into their pool. Emma kept saying, "This is the best day ever!" Kaleb and Kacie have been house sitting this week, with an awesome pool and we have already been twice. We usually don't even start swimming until about 7 pm because its soooo hot outside, but the girls have loved it!

Abigail Faith is 8 months old!!

2011-07-12T06:01:00.000-07:00

Abby is developing a darling personality the last few months....She loves to laugh at her big sisters...Abby is playing more with her toys.....She is FINALLY sitting up on her own ( I blame grandparents for holding her ALL THE TIME! ).....She loves to eat baby food, loves everything, especially yogurt melts and puffs!......Abby still likes to be held, and knows how to turn the crying on, and once you pick her up, she suddenly stops.....Abby does not like her carseat, but loves to ride in the stroller and go places....The carseat is making me nervous about our upcoming 24 hour car trip back to NC! Abby has light brown hair, and beautiful big gray eyes....they are not blue or brown, but the prettiest shade of light gray....I love them and hope they don't change!

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-05T07:06:00.000-07:00

We had a fabulous fourth of July hanging out with family and friends! Trinity had a family fun night with inflatables, face painting, hot dogs, cotton candy, snow cones ( I LOVE snow cones ) and more and we watched the fire works from the parking lot! The girls had a blast, too bad my mom had to stay home with Abby because she was sick... :(

We went to Heather's grandparents, who live on a 100 acre farm, to fish and have a cookout, and the kiddos had a blast! Gracie caught the first fish!

Emma loved canoeing with her Papa!

My sweet little ladies....we sure do miss Daddy though!

Sisters and best friends....

Outside and Garden fun!

2011-05-31T14:07:00.000-07:00

We are LOVING having a garden.....I was eating fresh salads with lettuce and spinach from the garden every day, along with onions and banana peppers...yummy! It's been pretty hot this week, so the lettuce has gotten a little bit bitter, but we have lots of green tomatoes....We planted 37 tomato plants, so in a few weeks, I will be eating tomatoes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! :) The broccoli is really yummy, I have never seen such green broccoli after cooking, and it tastes soooo good! Here are some pics of the garden and the kiddos playing outside!

6 months old!

2011-05-15T18:14:00.000-07:00

These are the best pics I could get from her 6 month old shoot....She wasn't very smiley that day.....Abby is getting so big, and is starting to laugh a lot more and play with her toys. She rolls over occasionally, but she is such a laid back baby that she is content to just lay on her mat and play with her toys, or have somebody hold her! :) She is such a great traveler and loves her sisters so much!

I love this picture of her sweet hand grabbing her toes! I could eat them up!

Mother's Day!

2011-05-15T18:07:00.000-07:00

I had a great Mother's day with my 3 sweet baby girls.....This was the best pic I could get. Abby's face cracks me up, she looks like she's about to start screaming! I promise she loves her big sisters. Even though my husband is far away, my girls made my day special....They bought me dishes, because all of mine are broken in the storage unit....and they both made me the sweetest cards and little crafts from church and school! I love my sweet girls!

Also, Gracie won a basket of goodies for signing up for sports camp. Her name got drawn and she won a OSU basket, she loves her water bottle and bracelet!

First Soccer Practice!

2011-05-10T10:21:00.000-07:00

The girls are on an indoor soccer team, and they had their first practice! Gracie did great, and Emma liked it, but would rather play in the dirt! :)

Birthday Party: Spring Garden Party...Happy Birthday Gracie!

2011-05-10T10:19:00.000-07:00

Birthday Celebration Part 2! Tea Party!

2011-04-26T23:59:00.000-07:00

Birthday Celebration part 1: Pinkitzle....and Chinese

2011-04-20T19:51:00.000-07:00

Gracie celebrated her first of 3 birthday celebrations on her actual birthday, April 17th! The day started with her waking up to presents...her favorite was the bike that I happened to get at a yard sale the day before for super cheap!

We then went to church, then met the rest of my family and Nana and Gigi (Steven's mom and Grandma) at a Chinese restaurant.....Gracie's favorite food of all time! After lunch we went to the cutest cupcake/candy shop called Pinkitzle ( which means tickled pink in German) Soooo super cute!

Happy Birthday to My Sweet Gracie!

2011-04-17T19:11:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that Gracie is 5 years old today! Steven is so sad to miss her special day, but we got to skype with him for about an hour tonight. He got up at 4:30 am, so he would be sure to see her! What a sweet Daddy!

Gracie, the Lord blessed us by giving us such a sweet and gentle spirit in a beautiful girl. Your Daddy and I love your heart, how you love to obey your parents and do the right thing, how you are sweet, kind, and patient with your little sister Emma, and how you love to share with her. We are so thankful that you love Abby so much, you enjoy making her laugh and smile, and how you help Mommy so much with the baby, especially with Daddy being gone.

Gracie we love you so much.....you truely are our miracle girl....We didn't think we would be able to have children, and the Lord blessed us by giving us you, 5 years ago. Your Daddy and I are so excited to see what the next year holds, and I know your Daddy misses you so much, and can't wait to see you!

Sprinkler Time....in our clothes

2011-04-15T19:41:00.000-07:00

The girls had a blast playing in the sprinkler yesterday.....of course my dad and brother encouraged them to jump right in the water, without changing their clothes....the joys of living with grandparents!

My baby.....

2011-04-06T12:55:00.000-07:00

rolled over yesterday! She's getting so big....please quit growing now.....

Snack Time!

2011-03-31T14:00:00.000-07:00

Gracie made super cute caterpillars and butterfly snacks to take to school when it was her turn to bring snacks! Actually Grammy did most of the work...and Mommy and Gracie just helped....I thought they turned out pretty cute...Love Family Fun magazine for great ideas!

Spring is here!

2011-03-20T09:16:00.000-07:00

We rushed to Ada on Saturday to visit my sweet Grandma who is turning 98 in June. She is doing fine, really healthy for her age, it is just sad to see her memory fade.....I remember having long talks with her and now its hard for her to hold a conversation. :( We had a good lunch with my cousin Megan and her fiance Brent, and then went to the park. Ada has one of the best parks, its really pretty....and the girls had fun playing and running around! I tried to get some good pics of all 3 of them, but this is the best I got..

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Happy 5 month Birthday Abby! I can't believe how big my baby is!

Sweet Gracie

Emma is a mess and she's hilarious!

The girls love playing at the park! The only way I could get then to leave is to bribe them with ice cream!

Abby loves her Papa!

I heart faces: Sun Flare

2011-03-14T19:49:00.000-07:00

This is my week's entry...my sweet second daughter....Loving her sweet expression! Check out the other entries here!

Happy Birthday Uncle Nate!

2011-03-11T03:39:00.000-08:00

Nate turned 28 yesterday and the girls had a great time planning his birthday! We had a sports theme party because he likes "baseball" and they went around the house gathering up every orange thing they could find because Nate's favorite color is orange. :)

Even Abby joined in the fun!

The girls said it was the best birthday party ever!

Outdoor fun!

2011-03-11T03:32:00.000-08:00

It is finally starting to get warmer in OK....This weather is so crazy, and the girls love to play outside....In fact this weekend we are planting a huge garden and I am soooo excited about eating fresh veggies all summer long! The girls are constantly playing race up and down the front porch....I don't know why Emma insists on riding the baby car!

Sweet Gracie

Emma has worn this crazy pumpkin hat all day! She loves it, even if she looks silly! We got to skype today with Daddy, they sure miss him!

I heart faces photo challege: Best face of February 2011

2011-03-08T19:15:00.000-08:00

This is my favorite face from February......I didn't like February that much since my husband left for Afghanistan with the Marine Corps.....but my sweet new baby and my big girls made me happy, even if we were all sad that Daddy left. This is my precious 4 month old Abby! I love her pouty lip! Check out the other entries here!

Good Morning Sunshine!

2011-03-06T21:55:00.000-08:00

Took some pics of my baby waking up this morning.....I love her sweet smile when I go in to get her up....this was actually her second time getting up....the first time she got up was 5 am.....I put her back to bed and she woke up again about 8! Abby is such a sweet baby!

Playing at the park!

2011-03-04T20:06:00.000-08:00

We had a blast playing at the park! Emma has no fear and will do every slide....Gracie will go down most of the slides, just not the biggest ones....She is so funny how she is timid about certain things....not Em, who is constantly climbing on everything, falling off stuff, and getting hurt all the time! The kids loved the park, but I'm still getting used to crazy wind all the time....makes me miss North Carolina!

This park is awesome and so great that it is super close to my parent's house!

Sweet Emma...

Edit with some free textures I got online........love photoshop! :)

Pixel Perfect: Before and After Blog hop

2011-03-03T13:20:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite sites...I love looking at other people's photos and learning about basic photo editing....Top (SOOC) Bottom: edit with Florabella Swoon ( Love all the actions from Luxe II) and Florabella sunlight

I heart faces photo challenge: Anything but a face

2011-03-01T18:24:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite photos of the girls from last spring....My girls pretty much wear dresses every day...and they love to wear their rain boots! I love this pic because Gracie's boots are on backwards....you can see Emma's sweet chubby knees...and their adorable little hands....This Mommy will cherish this pic always! They had so much fun that spring day! Check out the other pics here!

Playing outside!

2011-02-27T20:23:00.000-08:00

Abby playing outside in her bumbo!

Gracie helping PaPa in the garden.....in a skirt!

Florabella action before and after

2011-02-26T19:18:00.000-08:00

Here is the before (SOOC) straight out of the camera shot.

Here is the after, all I did is crop it and run Florabella's Allure action....soooo simple and easy. I heart actions.....for a busy mom of 3 who enjoys taking pics and documenting her kids lives...using actions is a lifesaver! The tones look muted because I have to upload directly from my computer in order for Steven to see the pics, when I use Flickr, the pics are blocked....The pic is much more vibrant than it looks on the blog.

Little Sister....and Gracie

2011-02-26T19:11:00.000-08:00

Abby is wearing baby legs for the first time....if you know me at all, you know that I LOVE me some baby legs...I have way too many....but I think they are adorable on little girls! I may pay too much for leggings, but I got the shirt at my favorite thrift store. ;) This pic was edited just using an action, no tweaking...Florabella's smitten...

Cowgirl Gracie...edited using florabella Ruby

My littlest.... playing with my new Florabella actions!

2011-02-26T04:16:00.000-08:00

I bought Florabella's Luxe I and Luxe II.....love them! I used Milk and Glam...I think? :)

Sweet Emma

2011-02-25T10:35:00.000-08:00

My sweet baby girl is growing up so fast! I love this pic of Emma even with her crazy hair, which is what it looks like all the time.

Bath Time!

2011-02-23T15:03:00.000-08:00

Abby loves bath time!

Getting dried off!

Just another cute pic of my sweet baby!

Western Day at School!

2011-02-18T11:47:00.000-08:00

Gracie has had a great first week at school! She is the first alumni kid to go to SWCS, which is where I graduated, and I loved attending there. Gracie gets to go to music class, PE, and library where her Grammy is the librarian.....She loves it! Gracie had western day today and got to eat popcorn and watch a Veggie Tales movie because they are learning about the letter V this week. Emma started school too, and says that she made lots of new friends, but misses her friends, Bailey and Jace! Emma's school is all day, but just on Monday and Wednesday, so she thinks its really fun to bring her lunch and sleeping bag. Here are some cute pics of the little cowgirl! :)

Happy Valentine's Day Daddy! We love you!

2011-02-13T20:21:00.000-08:00

Daddy's girl too! :)

2011-02-10T06:45:00.000-08:00

Abby misses Daddy too! I've been posting lots of pics of the big girls with Daddy, but Steven spent alot of time holding Miss Abby too! Happy almost 4 months to my littlest princess! :)

Daddy Daughter Dance!

2011-02-08T22:49:00.000-08:00

Gracie and Emma loved going to the "ball" with Daddy last week. They had so much fun getting dressed up, getting to wear makeup, getting fancy jewelry from their Daddy, and especially going to the dance with Daddy! The dance was the night before he left, so I was so happy that they got to spend the last night he was here doing something special with Daddy! Emma fell asleep in the balloon line, so I don't know how much fun Steven had... :) but I know he enjoyed just being with his sweet girls! We miss you Daddy!

We Miss Daddy!

2011-02-08T21:21:00.000-08:00

I heart faces photo challenge: Winter wonderland

2011-01-17T11:41:00.000-08:00

Check out the I heart faces photo contest found here. This is one of my fav, websites for inspiration. I love snow pics!

My Loves....I'm missing him already.....

2011-01-14T03:54:00.001-08:00

Snow Ball Fight

2011-01-11T10:35:00.000-08:00

We had a blast playing in the snow yesterday.....the snow was super dry...so the girls were bummed we couldn't build a snow man....so Daddy suggested we have a snow ball fight instead.

Gracie packing her snow ball.....

Winding up....

Getting ready....

Letting go!!!!

Happy New Year!!!

2011-01-02T04:04:00.000-08:00

We had a fabulous day! I took this pic outside of the base movie theater, where we saw Megamind! The girls loved it and Abby did great too.....It's amazing that we saw a movie, got popcorn and 2 drinks for $10! Love it! Steven was pretty excited that his team, OU, won their game....great day for our family!

Goodbye 2010! Hello 2011...Goals for the new year!

2010-12-31T10:51:00.000-08:00

The best thing about 2010 is.....sweet baby Abigail Faith Henderson.

2010 started really sad for our family, because Jan.12, 2010, we miscarried twins at 7 1/2 weeks. We were so excited about the new addition to our family during the holiday season, and had told all of our family and friends....when suddenly they were taken from us. We actually didn't find out that there was two babies, until right before my D&C....so that was very painful, to know that we now had 3 glory babies in heaven. Just 6 weeks after I had the miscarriage, we were again amazed by God's goodness to find out I was pregnant again! Steven and I were thrilled to welcome our third daughter, Abby, on Oct. 14, 2010!

As 2010 came to an end, we were saddened to find out that Steven is deploying to Afghanistan for a year. After prayer, we feel like God is leading me to move back home to OK to live with my parents while he is deployed. Here are some of my goals for 2011!

1. Take more pictures, with more journaling, so Steven can feel like he is apart of the kids lives while he is gone.
2. Take more videos of the kids playing and special events.
3. Read a book every 2 weeks, mixing fiction, with something a spiritual book/book on parenting/living a healthy lifestyle.
4. Try to cook more whole food meals, avoiding processed foods as much as possible...but not be crazy insane about it!
5. Make sure I do my quiet time everyday, and to consistently do family devotions with the kids.
6. Exercise 4-5x per week, but not put working out over spending time with the Lord.
7. To use this time to pay off all debt, and to save for the future, including an adoption in the next 3 years!
8. To research adoption options....international, domestic, foster....so we can begin the process as soon as Steven gets home!
9. Keep my blog updated...mostly for Steven.
10. Play more with my kids, and do more 1 on 1 time, since I will have a ton of babysitters....use this time to spend alone time with each of my children.

That's it so far....My biggie is to not waste so much time, to use my time as efficiently as possible...which means get off the computer!!! :)

Pixel Perfect: Before and After Blog hop

2010-12-30T17:45:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite sites...I love looking at other people's photos and learning about basic photo editing.....This is my SOOC SHOT

Here is my edit....I used Coffeshop rita's found here for color boosting, then Everyday elements Florida action, which I love and use on almost every pic...it corrects the lighting for you! I then ran a new action called strawberry vintage from Linky Lueville Crazy Actions...free...and it is awesome for snowy pics...I tweak all the levels...turning some on and off, changing opacity....I just think using actions makes your life so much easier! We had a blast playing in the snow!

Merry White Christmas!!!

2010-12-26T15:18:00.000-08:00

It's snowing in North Carolina!!!! Technically its the day after Christmas...but Gracie said snowing, means Christmas...so it still must be Christmas today!!! We had a wonderful Christmas with our sweet little family of 5....we just relaxed, played with the kiddos, took long naps, ate a ton.....and played some more! The girls got lots of goodies from santa and their parents....and had a fabulous day playing with each other all day long! They fell asleep in 5 minutes last night! :)

Here is Gracie and Emma in their matching pjs their Grammy bought them!

Playing in the snow! It was beautiful!

I got a bunch of new textures and actions for photo shop element and had fun this afternoon playing around with them!

Playing Hungry Hippos!

My sweet husband...love this pic of him!

Emma's Christmas Program

2010-12-21T07:38:00.000-08:00

Emma had a Christmas program with her preschool class. She goes to school Tuesday and Thursday and loves it! She loves feeling like a "big girl" like her big sister, Gracie. Emma sang her little heart out and did all of the hand motions great! Everytime we see a snowman, she busts out the snowman song!

Cute treats, made by my good friend Allison!

Sweet girl!

Gracie's Christmas Program

2010-12-16T16:13:00.000-08:00

Bundled up at the Living Nativity!

2010-12-12T18:52:00.000-08:00

We had a great time at the FBC Living Nativity.... It was pretty cold, so we bundled up, and the girls loved wearing warm hats. Gracie's head is so big, that she had to wear my hat...which she thought was pretty cool.

Emma was devastated she couldn't ride the stroller and had to walk all away around the church....it wasn't that far....so Daddy ended up carrying her most of the way!

Gracie and Emma love the story of baby Jesus.....I think they can relate because they remember me pregnant and then having baby Abigail..... Too bad we lost baby carrot Jesus out of our Veggie Tale Nativity set. :(

Sweet baby Abigail in her Eore costume from Halloween....Its the only thing that will fit her, and its super warm!

Sweet Gracie and Mommy!

Dear Santa....

2010-12-08T14:14:00.000-08:00

The girls visited Santa on Camp Lejeune last Sunday! They were super excited, and Steven and I were excited that the pictures were free! I should have brought my camera, because the quality of the pics are horrible.. but the girls had fun anyway.... baby Abigail wasn't too thrilled, and Gracie trying to get closer to Santa, knocked over the big bucket of candy canes.....but, that's typical of one of our days! :) Doesn't Santa look sooo happy to be there. :)

Also, I had to fill out 3 "letters to Santa" which was a permission slip to take the pictures, and on Gracie's I quickly put she wanted a dolly, books, and a leapster. Gracie asked me what I was writing, and I told her, and now every time someone asks her what she wants for Christmas, she says a dolly, books, and a leapster....she has no idea what a leapster is.....that girl cracks me up! Grammy and I got her and Em leapsters, because after losing our i touch, I'm terrified that they will lose our i phones, and I would rather them lose/break a $30 leapster than our i phones.

Its's the most wonderful time of the year....

2010-12-07T11:36:00.000-08:00

Christmas is here!!! My girls are soooo thrilled its Christmas....they walk into Target and yell, "Merry Christmas everyone!" Then we talk about using our indoor voice, until we make it to the Christmas decor section, where Emma yells, again, "Merry Christmas everyone." They are super excited. Here are some pics of the girls in front of the tree....we finally got the ornaments on it, and since the girls go to school and church, we add hand made ornaments daily! :)

Poor Abby wasn't too happy....

My Little Women

2010-11-20T10:35:00.000-08:00

Happy One month Birthday baby Abigail!

2010-11-11T22:22:00.000-08:00

Abigail is growing and changing so much! She is such a good baby, way easier than my other crazy girls! She still pretty much sleeps and eats ALL the time! Abigail has started to spit up this week...boo...but still not as bad as Gracie and Emma did. We love having our third baby girl....she is such a joy to our life!

I heart faces: Orange

2010-11-08T10:26:00.000-08:00

I heart faces: Orange

This week I heart faces photo challenge is orange....we had a great day at the pumpkin patch at Mike's Farm. This photo was taken on the hayride on the way to the pumpkin patch....I love this profile pic of Emma and how excited she is to pick out her pumpkin! Check out the other awesome pics!

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-31T03:26:00.000-07:00

Nate and Heather are here to visit! Yay! So of course we had to take them to Mike's Farm and eat some yummy home cooking! We also did the pumpkin patch hayride and picked out pumpkins to carve. The girls loved the hayride, except that it was already decorated for the "haunted hayride" that was going on later that night....so there were some scary stuff out there. Emma kept saying over and over...its just pretend right Mommy? Poor baby....hopefully I didn't traumatize her! Here are some cute pics:

Pixel Perfect: Before and After Blog hop

2010-10-28T11:26:00.000-07:00

Check out Pixel Perfect's Blog hop here....

This is my SOOC shot....loving the sunflare!

I cropped the pic...then ran several actions. Coffeeshop Rita's cross processing action - tweaking the levels, the coffeshop Rita's Perfect portrait to bring out the eyes and some contrast. Finally I ran Pioneer Woman's warmer action to warm it up....love the final product! Check out Pixel Perfect to see some more before and afters....I have learned so much from this website!

Autumn Evening

2010-10-27T16:15:00.000-07:00

Cool, crisp, autumn evenings are my favorite.....oh wait...its 90 degrees outside!!! I decided to let the girls play outside this evening, and so I snapped a few sweet pics...the girls were wearing their pink rainboots with the brown dresses..so no feet shots! :) Loved the sunflare tonight.....however, our play session was cut short when Gracie got bit my 2 huge mosquitos.....in OCTOBER! Crazy weather!

I heart faces photo challenge: Pink

2010-10-26T11:11:00.000-07:00

Here is my entry for the I heart faces photo challenge:Pink for breast cancer awareness -

Abigail Faith was two days old, wrapped up in her pale pink blanket....I love her sweet yawning face here!

Pixel Perfect: Before and After photo blog hop

2010-10-22T18:07:00.000-07:00

I've been having a ton of fun editing pics of my newborn baby girl: Here is the SOOC shot:

Here is my edit:

I used coffeeshop Rita's sunflare action, Pioneer Woman's seventies action with decreased opacity, and I used PW action slight lighten x3 and PW Warmer action....love how the edit turned out!

One Week Old

2010-10-22T12:24:00.001-07:00

Happy One week Birthday to Baby Abigail!

Newborn Photo shoot!!!

2010-10-20T05:49:00.000-07:00

I love love love my new camera. Its a Canon Rebel, and it takes fantastic pictures!

Party of Five

2010-10-20T05:44:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Sweet Abigail!

Baby Abigail Faith Henderson was born October 14th, at 9:11. She weighed 6 lbs 10 oz. and was 19 inches long.

We finally got to hold her at 4pm.....She had a little trouble pinking up when she was born, and they were monitoring her heart for 6 hours because she had SVT in the womb.....Praise the Lord, her heart showed no signs of any problems....and she is perfectly healthy!

Going home! We love our sweet baby! The girls are soooo good with her! They love to hold her and take care of her....the problem is their attention span lasts about 30 seconds and they are done! :)

Sassy Pants

2010-10-06T12:43:00.000-07:00

The girls had school pics last week.....here they are posing, getting ready for the pics....We got them back today, and Gracie, as pretty as she is, smiled silly in every picture....Good thing, I've been taking a ton of pics of her lately! :)

Mike's Farm!

2010-10-03T11:27:00.000-07:00

We went to Mike's Farm with our life group from our church and had a blast. Mike's Farm is a super cute restaurant out in the country that serves the best home cooking around! I should have taken pics of the macaroni and cheese, it is DIVINE! If you come visit us...we will most definitely take you to Mike's Farm! Another great thing, is that it is finally starting to get cooler! This pregnant lady is sooo happy! The heat and humidity here is killing me.....here are some cute pics from the farm.

Best friends Birthday Party!

2010-09-26T16:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we had a great day going to Gracie and Emma's friends birthday party. It was a joint party, so smart, with friends Bailey and Jace, both who are in Emma's class at school. The girls had a blast and I got some cute photos of them at the party....sorry Jace, I didn't get any of your sweet face. :(

Happy Birthday Bailey!

Iheartfaces photo challenge:week 37 Vroom, vroom

2010-09-13T13:42:00.000-07:00

This week's photo challenge on Iheartfaces is Vroom, vroom...a photo showing a face and some form of transportation. My husband's favorite form of transportation is flying a Cobra, AH-1. He is truly living his dream of being a pilot, and feels blessed to have such a great job that he LOVES. Here is a pic that somebody took while he was on deployment in Iraq. The quality of the picture is poor, b/c nobody had good cameras over there, but I had fun playing around with different actions and textures on this picture.

My guy is in the middle, and forgive the mustaches....that is a right of passage during the first deployment....they all grow them....GROSS! Check out the other entries here! I have learned alot from visiting other peoples sites!

More Ohio fun!

2010-09-08T05:32:00.000-07:00

The Columbus zoo was incredible. It reminded me of theme parks with all the different countries you could visit, and everything in that area was themed. The girls loved it! Their favorite was probably the polar bears.....there was an underground viewing area, and you could watch the polar bears play! Pretty cool....Gracie liked the fact that they were sisters, and they liked to fight and wrestle like she and Emma play. :) I love this picture of Steven holding his little girls! So sweet!

The reptile house was really cool, the kiddos were pretty excited to pet the snake, until they actually got up to it.....even brave Emma was pretty scared!

Sweet Gracie!

Only family pic of our whole trip! The weather was so beautiful....cool and crisp....it felt amazing for this pregnant lady! :)

Emma is obsessed with riding in strollers, which is good, I think.....She wanted to ride the WHOLE time, but then wanted out to see the animals....not too fun getting her in and out.

Little Emma, taken at a park in downtown Columbus. We wanted to eat at the German restaurant featured in Man vs. Food, but the wait was over an hour....so we just bought some chocolates, and cream puffs and ate at a fabulous mexican restaurant. Love this pic of Emma, too bad I had to crop Gracie out of all the pics....she was making weird faces! :)

Me and Liz.....so sad she moved away....She is one of those friends who after hanging out with her for a few days, I feel like I can be a better mom and wife....she teaches me so much! Love ya Liz!

Fun with the Flurry family- Day 1

2010-09-07T10:33:00.000-07:00

We had a blast with our friends in Ohio. One of the best parts for this 32 week pregnant lady, was the cool weather! The high was 65 one day.....felt amazing!!! The first day we were there, we went to this cool ice cream place, that had an ice cream themed play place....the kiddos loved it!

Before and After Pixel Perfect Bloghop

2010-09-02T06:50:00.000-07:00

This is my first time posting on the pixel perfect bloghop. This blog has really helped me learn about what other photographers, or moms with cameras, do to edit their pics. Here is my SOOC shot: straight out of the camera

And here is my edited pic. I used Everyday elements hollywood action, coffeshop rita's butterscotch vintage action...then I adjusted the color my self. I also added a tiny bit of sunflare using coffeeshop rita's sunflare action. Love all those free actions!
I love how this pic turned out!

First day of dance class!

2010-09-01T17:12:00.000-07:00

The girls had a great time at dance class today.....Emma loved going with the "big girls." I'm not sure if we will continue because of the cost and all of my million of dr's appointments starting. I'm going to have at least 2-3 a week before the baby is born besides preschool twice a week, but they had a great time today!

First Day of Preschool!!!

2010-08-31T14:18:00.000-07:00

The girls started their first day of preschool at Northwoods Methodist Preschool today! They were super excited....we laid out their clothes last night, packed their bags, and the most important thing was to paint their toenails! They are super girly girls! :) We had fun taking pics in our neighborhood this morning....I really like the morning light!

Gracie took this pic....My only pregnancy picture so far! I'm not a huge fan of the big belly pics, but here is baby Abigail Faith. I'm 31 weeks, and at her ultrasound today, she looked perfect, measuring at almost 4 pounds!

I heart faces weekly photo challenge: photojournalism

2010-08-30T14:59:00.000-07:00

This weeks Iheartfaces photo challenge is photojournalism....telling a story through pictures. I thought I would learn a little about storyboarding...and I downloaded a great action at coffeeshop ritas website!
The girls had a blast jumping in puddles the other day! Check out Gracie's boots, they are on the wrong feet! :)

;

Beach Babes!

2010-08-29T18:36:00.000-07:00

We had a great evening at Onslow Beach today! I finally talked Steven into taking the girls to the beach, so I could try out my camera and take some beach pics. I'm still getting used to my new lens and taking pics, so most turned out fuzzy, but we had fun anyway. The rip current was bad because of the hurricanes in the Atlantic, so we didn't get too far in the water, but the kiddos didn't care....they loved splashing and playing in the sand! We had a blast!

Steven Pics...fun with texture

2010-08-27T06:31:00.000-07:00

Steven and I at a change of command....I am pregnant here, just FYI. :)

Cobra guys in Iraq last summer....trying to look cool, but notice the mustaches....not so much!

2010-08-26T06:00:00.001-07:00

Puddle Jumpin!

2010-08-25T19:58:00.000-07:00

The girls had a blast jumping in the puddles after rain showers yesterday. Emma especially is obsessed with splashing, so she was in heaven playing in the water!

Amy Grimme photography

2010-08-24T09:26:00.000-07:00

My good friend Amy Grimme took these awesome pics of the girls! Check her out on facebook:amygrimmephotography

I love her pictures and her editing style! I just ordered a bunch of pics, and I can't wait to hang them up!

I heart faces weekly photo challenge: beach pics

2010-08-23T09:32:00.000-07:00

Go here to Iheartfaces....Love this website, learning so much! I'm planning on taking the girls to the beach to practice some beach shots. :)

I am entering the photo challenge trying to edit a pic I took a few months ago, before I knew anything about photography or editing....so I know the pic isn't great, but I tried to enhance it using PSE....the original was pretty bland, so I was able to warm it up and bring out some color.

Swimming lessons

2010-08-22T16:16:00.001-07:00

New Canon SLR with a 50 mm lens!

2010-08-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

Loving my new camera...it takes amazing shots....and its been super fun learning about basic and I mean basic photo editing!

Old pic of Emma...she was about a year old here! Love the vintage looks!

Gracie and Emma and their good friend Bailey at the first day of swimming lessons!

Gracie and Daddy fishing!

Sweet Gracie!

I heart faces Got to wear shades photo contest

2010-08-16T12:21:00.001-07:00

This is my first attempt to enter the I heart faces photography contest.... I just got a new camera, so I'm trying to learn some about photo editing! I love it!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2010-08-09T18:13:00.000-07:00

Steven bought me an awesome birthday present....a Canon Rebel...my first SLR camera. After playing around with it just for a few minutes, I was able to get these awesome shots of the girls!

Oklahoma Days

2010-08-05T01:18:00.001-07:00

We had a fabulous time in Oklahoma visiting our families! Steven and I got to enjoy a date night at the wonderful Paseo Grill! Soooo yummy!

Sweet Sisters....sittin on the porch swing!

Explorikeet at the Oklahoma City Zoo....we went twice, every Wednesday admission was $1!!! This zoo is awesome, soooo much better than the zoo in Jacksonville, and much cheaper! The girls loved feeding the birds, and playing at the new Children's zoo area!

Emma wasn't scared at all....in fact she put her finger in the birds mouth!

Going to Steven's 10 year high school reunion with our best friends from elementary school Aaron and Lindsay Delozier!

Fun with Grammy and Papa!

2010-06-07T05:53:00.000-07:00

bzzagent product reviews Covergirl, Dove, and Children's Claritin

2010-05-27T16:07:00.000-07:00

I'm doing another product review for Bzzagent.com! This is a fabulous website, and since joining I have gotten lots of free products, full size free products, which is awesome! The past 2 weeks, I have gotten Children's Claritin, a full size Dove Fiber Additives deep conditioner, and 4 full size Covergirl makeup products.

My youngest daughter seems to suffer from constant allergies, and I started giving her one claritin a day, and to be honest, I don't know if they are seasonal or related to her dairy issues....which I am trying to cut out. I've only been giving her the meds for a few days, and her symptoms seem to be getting a little better, but I'm not sure if its the medicine or the dairy I've been cutting out. I think this is a good product, and if I could be sure this is what is helping her, I would buy it again.

I also love the Simply Ageless Covergirl products. I received the eye corrector, eye concealer, cream blush, and cream foundation. I am getting older, almost 30, and I have noticed a ton more wrinkles. I have extremely dry skin, so I feel like foundation just shows the wrinkles even more. With this foundation, I feel like it still covers up the red spots on my face and doesn't set on the wrinkles. It is very light, and feels good on. I like the eye makeup too, and would buy that again, but wasn't that trilled with the blush. I've never used cream blush before, and the color seems to bright for my face....but I'll give it a try again. I will buy the foundation again, with a coupon, but probably not the blush. I do love Covergirl products in general.

I love, love, love the Dove conditioner. I have extremely dry and frizzy hair, and I feel like this product works better than the Pantene I was using before. It probably works just as good as salon deep conditioners, but it's much more affordable. I would probably buy this again, as long as I have a coupon, and lucky for me, Dove seems to always have coupons in the Sunday paper. :)

Gracie's 4!

2010-05-16T04:36:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Gracie!

We had a great time at the bowling alley!

Happy Easter!!!

2010-04-14T11:13:00.000-07:00

We had a fabulous Easter with friends this year. First the girls participated in First Baptist Church's Easter egg hunt, they loved it!

Emma would only pick up the purple eggs, I guess because her basket is purple.....she's a little strange! :)

Gracie had a great time at the Easter egg hunt!

We went to church on Saturday night, which was awesome because we had an early lunch with friends on Sunday! We hid Easter eggs at their house too!

Marbles Children's Museum

2010-03-05T03:56:00.000-08:00

We had a great time at the Marbles Children's Museum, it was fantastic. The girls had a blast!

Emma kept pretending she was a puppy, and sleeping in the dog house!

Pizza Delivery!

The girls loved dressing up as fruit....Emma kept saying,"Look at me, Mama, I'm Bob!"

Check out those flippers! This was by far, the best children's museum ever!

Snow Day!! in May! :)

2010-02-14T04:31:00.000-08:00

I just realized that this never got published....sorry, the pics are cute though....

Children's Museum!

2010-02-13T04:28:00.000-08:00

We had a great day yesterday at the Children's Museum. The girls had a wonderful time playing with their Nana, who has come to visit for a week!

Fun at Home

2010-02-13T03:57:00.001-08:00

Family Fun Night!!!!

We had a great time making pallets on the floor, the girls had their sleeping bags, and we watched a Veggie Tales movie. Gracie took this picture....pretty good! :)

The girls with their Daddy, they definitely are Daddy's girls!

Craft time at home!!! Emma and Gracie loved painting with watercolors!

Helping Mommy cook....it usually takes way longer and makes a huge mess....but they love to help me in the kitchen!

Bzzagent product review

2010-02-01T16:19:00.000-08:00

I am doing a review on Ultracept Hand sanitizer for www.bzzagent.com. This is the next generation hand sanitizer. I love being a Bzzagent, because I get free full size products in the mail. Since I joined about 7 months ago, I have gotten full size John Frieda shampoo and conditioner, Covergirl lipstick, Aquafresh toothpaste, and just recently Ultracept hand sanitizer. Bzzagent is a word of mouth marketing company that anybody can join, and all that is required is that I use the products and tell people (honestly) what I think. So far, I have loved all of the products. The cool thing about Ultracept hand sanitizer is that it lasts 6 hours, it moisturizes, and is non-sticky and non-greasy. I will definitely use it for my kids, I however have really dry skin, so I think that I will stick to my antibacterial lotion. I do like the product for my children.

More recent pics of the girls!

2010-01-29T04:35:00.001-08:00

Amazing Friends!

2010-01-29T04:05:00.000-08:00

We are loving life in Jacksonville. We go to First Baptist Church, one of the fastest growing churches in America, and we love it! Through our Sunday school class/small group, we have made such incredible friends.....not just for me and Steven, but our girls too. I walk in the mornings usually 2-4 days a week with Sara and her daughters Bailey and Taylor, and we get a lot of good girl time. It makes that hour of working out fly by! Gracie and Emma also have their best friends Drew and Hunter, a.k.a., their future husbands......we see them 3-4 days a week, Liz and I are pretty good friends too. I'm trying not to think about them moving in May, it makes me too sad. We have made so many incredible friendships, especially since we have been home in August, that I can't imagine living anywhere else. We love Steven's squadron, HMLA 167. Over the last few months, we have grown closer to the other couples in his squadron, and the other wives are really fun. Everybody is always up for a party! Our heart is in Jacksonville, and we honestly have grown to love it here, which is really weird to think about, knowing how much I despised it when we first moved here. God has honestly changed my heart!

Fun times at Mike's Farm. Seriously the yummiest food I have ever eaten! I dream about the mac and cheese.......

Small group 80's Halloween Party, Steven and I went as prom king and queen!

Some of our best friends, David and Tyler Stowe.....this picture cracks me up!

We had a great time at the USMC Birthday Ball this year!

Steven's buddies/fellow pilots in HMLA 167. Best Friends Forever! :)

White Christmas!

2010-01-28T10:18:00.001-08:00

Christmas Pics! We had a great time in Oklahoma visiting family over the holidays. The flights were great, even though I had to fly with the girls by myself, since we took so long buying Steven's ticket. I was a nervous wreck, but the girls did awesome, they played together good, and Emma napped for two of the four flights. Steven hadn't been home since last year before he deployed, so he really enjoyed being back in Oklahoma seeing his mom and dad too! We endured Blizzard 2009, even though I got stuck at work for 18 hours, it was a huge blessing, because I made enough money to cover the price of our plane tickets, which was incredible, and I love my job in OKC, so it was great to be able to see my old friends again! It was only supposed to snow 4-6 inches, and it snowed 14 inches! It was crazy, but really fun, I'm really glad the girls got to play in the snow, because it doesn't snow that much in J'ville.

Here are some of my favorite pics from Christmas!

Emma's face cracks me up in this pic, she is OBSESSED with my dad....when he is around, nobody else matters. They just got in from playing in the snow, and she was loving it!!
Our only family pic over Christmas......it is so hard to get a good pic, with a 2 and 3 year old!
Emma loving her Boz book!
Gracie is such a cheeseball.....
Don't you all love my girls pink and purple "Christmas dresses".....I don't really care, they are my FAVORITE dresses!!

2010....A New Year and A New Song

2010-01-21T15:22:00.000-08:00

Jeremiah 29:11-12 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

Okay, I know its been six months since my last blog. My new years resolution this year is to make our family blog a scrapbook and update once a week. I think by actually making a goal, it will keep me more accountable about taking pics of my kids and documenting their life. I know its Jan. 21st and I'm already behind.....but as most of you know the last two weeks have some of the worst weeks of our lives.

Three days before Christmas we found out that I was pregnant. We were super excited, because shortly after Steven came home from Iraq, we felt like the Lord was telling us that it was time to try for another baby. It took us three months to get pregnant, which is still amazing to me, since the doctors told me I had a 80% chance of being sterile from the chemo I had to take when I was 15. I felt sick right away, which is a good sign.....so being in the Christmas spirit we decided to tell our family. Everybody was so happy, and not so nervous this time since I had two healthy pregnancies and two precious, happy, and healthy little girls. I also found out that my best friend in North Carolina was pregnant after enduring years of infertility, and we were due a day apart! I was beyond thrilled, and everyday I kept getting sicker and sicker.....way earlier than I had with the girls....and I kept thinking everything was fine. Little did I know that everything would change.

I started bleeding off and on for a week, and on three separate occasions thought I was for sure miscarrying, and the Dr's kept telling me everything was fine. Such an emotional rollercoaster ride! The Dr's kept doing ultrasounds and said they saw a heart beat and this is normal in pregnancy. I was praying about it, for God's will to ultimately be done, but my heart was aching for healing for my baby. To make a very long story short, after 4 ultrasounds showing one sac, on my 5th ultrasound, they found twins, but neither had a heartbeat. Because of my health, I had a D&C last Tuesday. I only had about 2 hours from the time I found out that I was pregnant with twins, that neither had a heartbeat, and my surgery.....so I feel like I never had the time to grieve the loss of the other baby. This took a huge emotional toll on Steven and myself. I never have wanted twins, longed for multiples, but knowing that I had twins, that my babies would have a close playmate, makes me so sad that I won't ever have twins. I know that I probably, God willing, will get pregnant again, but I know that it more than likely won't be twins. Pray for us that the Lord will heal my heart and Steven's, and take away the pain. Each day gets better, but it still hurts......and even when we get pregnant again, we will miss our babies.

Through the pain, we have seen God MOVE! Steven's whole squadron is gone for the next 6 weeks, and he was one of 3 pilots that they randomly selected to not take with them. He kept saying, he had no clue why he wasn't chosen to go.....and I kept telling him that God has him here for a reason......and now we know. I am so thankful to the Lord that Steven was here to be with me during this. We even said today, how we think dealing with the loss of our babies, has brought us closer to each other and the Lord. My dear friend Liz volunteered to watch my kids for an hour during my Monday morning Dr appointment, and my kids ended us staying at her house until Wednesday morning....oh, and her hubby got home from a 13 month deployment on Thursday. She is such a great friend, I don't know what I would have done without her. Our church, FBC Jacksonville, and our military friends showed us great support. My friend Christine, who recently went through her own loss of a baby, brought me a meal, and stayed and just talked to me, when I really needed to talk to somebody who knew what I was feeling. She reminded me that Heaven is so much bigger for me now, because not only will I be with my Savior, but I will see my glory babies again! My dear friend Sharon, who also lost a child, left me a basket on my porch, with an encouraging note, a book called, "I will hold you in Heaven", and what every girl needs chocolates. :) She was sensitive enough to leave it on my doorstep, and email me later, knowing that at that time I really didn't want to talk to anybody. I feel like I appreciate my husband and children so much more now. Even if I am never blessed with any more kids, I feel so lucky to have the two sweet angels that I have now. We went to Wednesday night church last night for the first time since before Christmas....and the sermon was on having a new song. That is my prayer right now, that the Lord will give me a new song....a song of hope for the future. I am praying that God be glorified....even in devastation. I know we live in a fallen world and bad things happen, and my prayer is that good can come, and that I will be changed for the better, I will grow closer to the Lord and my family, and be a better wife and mother to my children.

Jeremiah 29:11 has been such a comfort to me......my plans are not always God's plans....and I know that God's best is what I want for my life, and the life of our family.

My Two Favorite Pics of the Girls and Our Favorite Guy in Iraq....We Miss Him!

2009-06-26T15:46:00.000-07:00