One Step Closer...

The last few weeks I have been consumed with preparations for Jed's big day! I call it his big day, but in reality it was a big day for our family. I love that when we drive down the road Ollie will spot the temple and yell out "I see the temple!" as he points with all his might. We've had lots of cute little conversations about how he gets to go inside in x number of days and how in x number of days Jed will be his brother forever! Our conversations today were, "Today we get to go to the temple and take pictures, and tomorrow we get to go the temple and go inside!" Ollie only had one question, he wanted to know whether or not he could go to nursery in the temple- he does love nursery! But even without going inside he was excited to be on the temple grounds. When we got out of the car, he was on the side that was closest to the chapel and as soon as he got out of he was so excited pointing at the chapel exclaiming "the temple!" We all thought, if he thinks that's exciting wait until he turns around and actually sees the temple! Needless to say, he was not disappointed and all of his energy just added to the excitement that was growing inside of me as I was coming to the realization that we were less than 24 hrs away from Jed becoming part of our forever family!

 

Jed is definitely coming into his own lately, not as quiet and passive as the first 6 months of his life. Now he just seems full of life! He squeals out loud when he is happy and just to be heard, he kicks his little legs with all his might like all the energy is bottled up inside him and his legs are the only way to get it out, and he is a man on the move these days, crawling and picking up anything he can get his hands on. He has always been bright eyed and curious, excited to look out and see the world and everything happening around him. Tonight it was as if he knew how special the occasion is because he was all full of smiles and life and I loved every minute of it! 

 

What joy this happy little guy has brought to our lives. It is hard to imagine our life being anything but complete without him!



There were no "typical" shots of the boys, but Beth did capture what is typical of these brothers, which is Ollie doing some WWF moves trying to wrestle Jed, and then giving him kisses when he is a little too rough! Can't wait to see what they got on video!

And there were no typical shots with Daddee either, but this is again what is typical in our life- Daddee chasing Ollie, throwing him around on his shoulders while Jed just chills...

 

We were thrilled that Sarah was able to join us for some shots as well. Jed wanted to eat the minute she arrived- his smiles were fading and hunger was taking over. I guess that's what happens when you're working with an infant! We just rolled with it. I love how Beth was able to capture the joy you can see lighting up Sarah's face when she holds him- every breath that sweet little boy makes is a moment to treasure, and he owes all if it to her...

 

Ollie had a few moments in the spotlight too, he has newly discovered how to put his hands in his pockets, such a stud...

 

Some of the fun things that happened during pictures: Jed spitting up before we ever got the first picture (I kept him naked until we got to the temple but he saved it until I got his clothes on and then spit up probably 4 more times during the pics); Ollie- need I say more, he is always fun and luckily Uncle Richard was there to chase him around because all Ollie wanted to do was play and I kept hearing him yell out to Richard "Come and get me!"; Sprinklers! We had the boys all laid out on the grass wrestling around when the sprinklers turned on, we all made a run for it and I nearly dyed laughing watching Matt get sprayed across his hinny, as soon as we made it to safety Ollie made a run for it right back to the sprinklers but all of our yelling stopped him just before he jumped in and got all wet; another Ollie moment was trying to get his portraits and watching him make a run for it and pretending to be Iron man instead! And thank goodness Barbara and Richard came with us, they were such a big help behind the scenes!

 

Such a fun night. I was so grateful that Beth (at http://bethcurtisphotography.com/) was able to pull off the photo shoot for us, especially when I didn't ask her till the week of. She truly is talented and what a treasure it is to have this moment frozen in time! Even more than that, it is so nice to work with someone that has joy in what she does and fully appreciates what this day means to our family. I can't help but smile when I look through the pictures because it brings up every emotion- smiles for all the love I have for this precious boy, smiles for all the joy he brings to our home and family, smiles because all the hopes and dreams of being a mother some day are being fulfilled, smiles because there is nothing that I love more in this life than this sweet little family of mine, smiles because it makes my heart want to burst every time I see Matt make the boys laugh, smiles because he is an amazing Dad and I know how very much it means to him to be a father, smiles because Ollie has a brother to share his life with, and more smiles for this overwhelming love and gratitude we have for Sarah. What a blessing she is to us and how grateful we are to be sharing this journey with her! And the song playing through my head- Jed's song reminds me that tonight we are One step closer...