Musings on life, parenting, Jesus, and more...

My friend Shelly had a beautiful baby girl on December 4th and was gracious enough to allow me to come take pictures of her yesterday. I haven't had much experience with newborns so I welcomed the opportunity to get some practice and spend time with an adorable little baby and her lovely mama! We got some really great shots so I thought I would share a couple with you. Thank you baby Addison for being such an excellent model! You are already such a blessing to those who's lives you've touched!

We were so fortunate to have a last minute visit from my dad this Thanksgiving. He was able to carpool over with a friend of his who has family in West Linn, so he arrived on Wednesday and left yesterday morning. Jenica warmed up to her Grandpa right away and loved bringing him books to read while sitting on his lap. It was very cute! We spent Thanksgiving with my Grandma's sister Karen, her husband Al and their two daughters Ceil and Kelly at their beautiful home in Albany, Oregon. The food was absolutely delicous and the company was even better. My dad and Rob also put new flooring in the kitchen and laundry room of our rental house in Molalla, so the weekend was a little more work and less relaxing for them that it was for me, but the end result turned out great. Thanks guys for a job well done!

It was 2 years ago today that our first little baby went to be with Jesus. At only 10 weeks along it was still to early to tell by ultrasound whether this first little miracle of ours would have been a boy or a girl, but Rob and I felt in our hearts that it was a boy. As part of the healing process, we named our little boy Joseph and buried his tiny body in a beautiful place next to the Molalla river. We have since been blessed with a healthy baby girl who brings more joy and laughter to our lives with each passing day. She is 14 months old already and we thank Jesus for her everyday. Since we got pregnant so soon after loosing baby Joey, it is sometimes easy to forget to give thanks for his time with us as well, but finding out that we were pregnant with him was one of the happiest moments for Rob and me and losing him has helped make our marriage stronger. The experience, however painful, has given me the compassion and understanding to relate with other women who have been through s...

(Just in case Santa doesn't get Jenica's text message, I posted her letter here.) Dear Santa, Here are a few things that I would like for Christmas this year: I would really love an umbrella stroller, you know, the kind that folds up really small and fits in the trunk. All Mommy has right now is the great big jogger, which is wonderful for when we go for runs or walks outside, but for trips to the mall or other shorter outings it would be nice to have something small and light to carry with us. I also need some fun plastic kid plates. I have lots of cups and silverware but only two plates so I usually have to use Mommy and Daddy's dishes. Theirs are boring and no fun so it would be nice to have some that are especially for me. I really love books but since I can't actually read yet, I think I might like to try one of those books that talks to you when you touch the pen to the word. Oh, and I tried out a rocking horse at Costco that was really fun! I don't have any b...

I'm a little behind on my blog updates but for those of you who aren't on facebook or don't check it often, I wanted to share Jenica's blue ribbon accomplishment from swim survival class. Getting her blue ribbon means she can turn over and float on her back for 10 seconds all by herself. She met this milestone on Thursday October 29th after only 5 lessons! Since then, she has continued to make amazing progress and her confidence in the water has grown by leaps and bounds! Her initial set of lessons was due to end today but I've decided to keep her in class until the pool closes for the Holidays so she'll have a few more weeks to work on mastering the skills she would need to survive if she were to fall in a pool or lake. The next milestone we are shooting for is to go in fully clothed, turn over and float for a full 5 minutes. Thanks so much to those of you who helped make these lessons happen for her!

Jenica went down the slide at the park today all by herself! I think it helped that we were there with my friend Cathy and her 3 year old son Samuel, so she had someone to show her the ropes. Here she is checking things out from the bottom. Then she decided that this would be the best way to get to the top. That, however, just proved to be frustrating, but eventually she discovered the stairs. Here she is checking out things from the top. This was right before she WALKED down the slide. It scared the begeebers out of me and Cathy but she actually did it quite gracefully and must have thought it was fun because she ended up trying it again! Fortunately, when I showed her how much better it was to sit on her bottom, she decided that she liked that much better and proceeded to climb the stairs, sit herself down and slide down the slide numerous times with out any coaxing. Such a brave little 1 year old! And there she goes! Don't worry, she always landed just fine. This picture was tak...

I entered a photobook of Jenica pictures in a contest, but we need your help to make it to the finals. Please click on the link below and search for the book "Jenica's First Year." Once you find it, just register and vote! It's that easy! Oh, and make sure you check out the back cover! You might just find something there that YOU wrote! Vote for my book in the Best Blurb Books Contest! Voting ends Nov. 9 View other entries »

Or in our case, crib time - since we don't have room in our tiny house to set up the play pen too, but the concept is the same. Having Jenica play by herself in her crib during the day teaches her how to focus and concentrate apart from the distractions of the moment. It also helps her to develop her attention span and aids in her creativity. And, it gives mom a chance to shower, cook dinner, fold laundry, or do any number of other things with out a toddler hanging on her leg. I had become a little lax in this area over the last few months but I have re-committed to work on it once or twice a day and today Jenica managed to do a 45 minute stretch (with only minor complaining) twice today, once after breakfast and again this evening while I cooked dinner. Way to go Jenica!

A girl after my own heart! I was in the kitchen tonight cooking dinner and I hadn't heard much out of Jenica for a while so I went to check on her. This is how I found her, walking out of her bedroom with as many shoes as she could carry, and looking so proud of herself. It was the cutest thing...I just had to share it with you.

I love fall! For the obvious reasons - that it marks the soon arrival of snowshoeing season, with festive holiday gatherings and gift giving right around the corner, but also for the more suttle things like pumpkin spice latte's, flannel sheets, and the opportunity to break out the fall wardrobe! Don't get me wrong, I love summer time with a passion! I think the bottom line is that I just enjoy change, so the changing of seasons is no exception. The chilly fall air seems like a good excuse to turn on the heater (hopefully fire up the wood stove some day when we build our dream house) and curl up on the couch with a movie or a good book. This year is twice the fun because I not only get to dress myself in fun fall sweaters and hats, I have to keep little Jenica warm and cozy as well! I couldn't pass up this outfit last time I was at the mall and today has been the first day it's felt chilly enough to put it on her. Funny story about the boots - I kept trying to put them ...

We spent a wonderful weekend in Lincoln City enjoying the sun, beach, good friends, relaxation and of course... Wheel of Fortune auditions. Sorry folks...I didn't get picked, but it was still a fun experience none the less. Here's some pictures from our trip.

We just returned from a very short visit to Port Orchard, Washington to meet the newest addition to our family. Egan Joshua Bedient was born on September 1st and is just as handsome as can be. My sister Rhianna, her husband Josh and their 2 year old daughter Kayla are all doing great! Rhianna was nice enough to let me practice my newborn photography on her little man. Here are a couple of my favorites. And one of the whole family :)

We are not technically celebrating Jenica's birthday until tomorrow but today has still been a very special day for her. She has received special birthday calls from Grammy, Grandpa and Auntie Joi. And to mommy's surprise and delight, she truly is living up to her "princess" birthday theme today! First, she slept in until 8:30 - practically unheard of these days - then she took a full two hour nap which absolutely never happens, but allowed me to get most of our clothes and food packed for our camping trip this weekend. This afternoon it's off to have family pictures taken, then home to change and head to our campsite. We will update with more pictures later (you know, the fun cake one's...I'm sure she'll get nice and messy!) but for now I'll just leave you with a couple of cute shots I got this morning.

The first steps are just the cutest, all wobbly and off balance. I caught this fun little clip today and thought I would share it with you.

pas⋅sion   / ˈpæʃ ən / Show Spelled Pronunciation [ pash - uh n ]: a strong or extravagant fon dness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything. Today I was thinking about the word passion and what it means to me. There are many definitions of the word in the dictionary but the one above most accurately describes what I mean. I feel like it's so important for everyone to have things in their life that they are truly passionate about; Things that excite them and bring joy and fulfillment to their lives. I feel like this can be especially important to parents, who can all to easily get consumed in the lives of their little ones and forget to do things to take care of themselves first. I love Jenica with all my heart and I love being a mom, but I can't let that be the only thing that defines me. I love photography! I get excited to take new pictures and learn new techniques. I love going through a batch of pictures that I've taken later on the computer to refine and edit them. ...

This last weekend we camped at Crescent Lake, which is about an hour east of Eugene. I can't believe I lived in Eugene for 2 1/2 years and had never been there - but alas I was a poor college student working part time and going to school so I didn't have time for much in the way of "recreation." We went with my friend (and co-worker) Shelly and her husband and their two dogs... so in total we had 4 adults, 3 dogs, and 1.5 babies (Shelly and Dusty have a baby girl due in December). Jenica had loads of fun playing with the dogs and getting nice and dirty! I'm sure this is the dirties she has ever been, but it didn't seem to bother her so that's good. There were no showers so we just dunked her in the lake every day to clean her up a bit. She still isn't sleeping all that great in Harvey but we're hoping that in time she'll get use to it so we can have a restful nights sleep on one of these camping expeditions. But, I suppose the beauty of camping...

Well, as many of you already know, Jenica took her "official" first step while we were in Idaho on my dad's houseboat. Since then, she's taken a few steps on a number of different occasions. However, tonight I was lucky (and patient) enough to catch some of those steps on video. I think this is the most she has taken so far - and I love how she balances and the beginning and seems to mentally 'prepare' for what she is about to attempt! Enjoy!

We got back Sunday from a wonderfully relaxing vacation in North Idaho visiting my parents. Our first stop was my mom and her husband John's house in Coeur d' Alene. We spent the weekend there and enjoyed some wonderful times on the lake... bbq lunch at Arrow Point, tubing and just soaking in the sunshine! Then it was off to Lake Pend Oreille for a few days of camping and visiting with my dad on his houseboat. While we were there, my mom worked on making new cushion covers for Harvey - our 1970 something travel trailer - and when we returned to Coeur d' Alene on Friday they were nearly complete. They are such an improvement for Harvey and we are so excited to go camping with him again next weekend and enjoy his "new look!" Jenica seems to like being on the water and took great naps on both my parents boats - even one while we were speeding across the lake. She took her first step on my dad's houseboat and Rob and I enjoyed being on the lake and exploring deser...

This is what Jenica's hair looks like in the morning if we give her a bath the night before and take out her braids or pony's. I'm starting to see a correlation between the times that her hair is like this, and the mornings she sleeps in a little longer. It is now quarter after eight and I haven't heard a peep out of her. On a normal morning we usually start hearing her around 7:30, and she's definitely awake by eight. Maybe since it's so dark in her little world with all that hair in her face, she doesn't know it's morning yet!

Jenica's favorite toys these days: boxes, and mixing bowls from the kitchen cabinets! Her favorite thing to do: Open and close doors (Just in case you needed an update:)

I finally got a picture of this. Jenica's newest fun thing to do is make fish lips. Now... you can see for yourself :)

There's nothing sweeter than waking up to a happy baby in the morning! Rob & I actually get up about an hour before Jenica in the morning and I look forward to hearing her cheerful noises coming from her room signaling it's time for her to start the day. Our morning routine usually starts with a diaper change, of course, since after 12 hours in bed it is usually approaching it's maximum capacity. Then we make her morning bottle and while she lays contently drinking it, that's my window of opportunity to do something fancy with her hair. I'm not sure what I'll do after she's done with bottles as that is about the only time I can get her to lay still long enough and be patient enough with me to let me practice my braiding skills. After the bottle, we usually have play time for a bit before heading to the kitchen for some "big people food". She was especially adorable this morning so I took some pictures to share. As I write this she is happily sq...

Please join me in wishing my daddy a very happy birthday! Love you Dad! Thanks for helping make me so cute! (Oh, and I wore camo today just for you:)