Albrights and Sextons

Hope everyone is having a lovely New Year Day!
I spent my New Year's Eve here at home with Ryan watching Life is Beautiful and eating nachos (yum) and posting these shoots.
http://www.lillianprincephotography.wordpress.com

"Am I really doing anything?"

I was reading the Girl Talk blog (http://girltalk.blogs.com/) and they posted from a series about the Home. It was very refreshing to hear and encouraging to my soul.
If you stay at home like me, everyday house chores seem mundane and never ending. Just last night I was telling Ryan how I feel like laundry is the one thing I feel like never is finished. Which it is not. I've got a load in the dryer, one in the wash and a clean load ready to be folded. And there are enough clothes to wash another load!
But I am encouraged after reading this post because this is so my life right now!


"...But most of my days looked pretty much the same.
I got out of bed each morning so that I could do everything I did the day before. I washed the dishes so they could be dirtied again.I ironed the clothes so they could be worn and wrinkled again, I wiped noses so they could run again. I picked up toys so they could be played with again.I mopped the floor so mud could be tracked on it again.I cooked meals so that I could go to the grocery store again.I made beds so they could be slept in again.
Some days I wondered: if I do all I do, only to have it undone, am I really doing anything?
Today, as I pack up my home in June of 2008, I can see the answer more clearly than I did in February 1986. Each of my daughters is married to a wonderful, godly man, Chad will be a sophomore in high school this fall, and we’ll welcome our seventh grandchild at the end of August.
I realize that all of the mundane, repetitive days were actually full of significant, enduring work. A home was being built. A family was being knit together. Four souls were being shaped for eternity.
This home has spawned three more homes where the same tedious yet momentous work goes on day in and day out. And God willing, many more homes will one day be built, day by day, so “that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior” (Titus 2:9). "

But as you can see from these pictures from Christmas lots of my days are not mundane ...

ER got into Brenda's makeup and put on lipstick without a mirror! Pretty well too...You can even see on her hand where she checked to see if the color of the lipstick would match her skin. Ha! p.s. My mother made that dress!

Last week Ryan called for me from the bathroom and I came to see this. Dean was so excited about bath time that he jumped/crawled/fell into the tub.
And this is on Christmas Eve when we celebrated Christmas with the Princes.

And sorry I did not edit it..so after you watch 30 seconds of it you can stop.

And then on those mundane days where I wonder where my joy is or what is it in, or I feel as though I am endlessly disciplining Ella Reese about the same things over and over, or the view of the kitchen sink is constantly overflowing with dirty dishes no matter how often it seems that I am washing them, or when I complain in my heart for picking up toys all day... this poem by Annie Johnson Flint becomes my rock and helps me to surrender myself and my efforts to Christ. I hope it does for you too! Happy Tuesday!

"He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater;

He sendeth more grace when the labours ( laundry! ) increase;

To addeth afflictions he addeth his mercy,

To multiplied trials, he multiplies peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,

When our stregth has failed ere the day is half done;

When we reach the end of our hoarded resources,

Our Father's full giving is only begun.

His love has no limits, his grace has no measure,

His power has no boundary known unto men;

For out of his infinite riches in Jesus,

He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again! "

He walked!

I could not resist...plus I wanted to remember the date. He took three steps, three times in a row! How exciting! He turns 11 months on Jan 12...so he is around 10 and a half months. Wowzers~

I love my Dean-o...lately I have been trying to soak in every little bit of the details of his face and hands and all the small things I love about him. Heis growing too fast for me to savor it all....and now this! Walking!!! *my sweet baby boy*

this picture looks so "rebel without a cause". Or what is that guy's name who was the actor in that movie? dean something...

28 ?

I have to always sit and think about how old I am. It all seems the same to me...26..24...28. Well, I turned 28 this year and Ryan planned a fun Birthday for me. We went tomy favorite Thai place, Taste of Thai, then we came home to have surprise visitors stop by throughout the evening. There was even this enormous ice cream cake waiting for me from Brusters. Yum....
And, we attempted for the last time to get a family picture. They are not "photography" style. But I love them. I used one of them for our cards. I will try to scan one and post it. I wish we could have ordered more...but they get pricey! So if you did not get one...we love you still!

My family....I love them so!

That is Dean's sleepy state. When he is really sleepy, he grabs onto both ears.

yummy..cake at 9pm at night. Yes,..she was up late.

Some candids of the people who stopped through....Trav

Dave

Ames and Emilee. Sharon and Lon babysat for us. Thanks again guys!

A fruit basket Ryan's cousin Mike brought by. I have never gotten a fruit basket! Now I can say I have! Thanks Mike!

Thenext day we put up our tree. I know..we are behind. I am actually making our stocking tonight too. Talk about cutting it close, huh?

I will post pics of them...they look really great!

And last but not least...my babies which I can not really call them babies for much longer.

Ella Reese has embraced her feminity lately and is constantly dressing up. We don't have any dress up clothes for her..so she just puts on all the shoes she owns, interchanging them throughout the day. So there are shoes litered throughout the house at all times. I secretly love it.

She ususally has them on the wrong feet. She got it right this time.

ER lovin on brother. You can see that all he wants is the block in her hand.

So...unless I post stocking pics or our xmas cards for you....The Prince family is signing off for Christmas!

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas celebrating Jesus Christ coming to the world to save us from our sins! What a kind and merciful God we have!

Merry Chrstmas!!!

love, Ryan, Lillian, Ella Reese and Dean-o

The Cooopers

These are up! www.lillianprincephotography.wordpress.com.

Christmas cards

Okay, so this year I want to send out Christmas cards. But we are having a hard time getting a good family picture. But seriously,...how good can a picture be with a 2 year old and a 9month old? These were taken a month ago and I am now looking through them, crossing my fingers and holding my breath, for a potential family pic for Christmas cards. We did not do them last year because of the same reason.

I could always cut and paste a picture together of us all. Or I could choose that option where there are 4 pictures on the card, and have one of Ryan and I, individuals of the kids, then the kids together. Maybe their cuteness will overshadow the missing picture of the entire family?

Am I so lame that I am primarily a family photographer and yet I am unable to get one of my own family?

I so do love getting everyone's Christmas cards in the mail...surely people would enjoy getting one from us. Maybe, since I left college with an Art degree, I can just draw a picture of us!

Of well,....here's hoping....

This one cracks me up! I think Ella Reese is trying to fro Ryan's hair. It would have been an okay picture if it wasn't for that one thing...

Catchin up

Go to www.lillianprincephotography.wordpress.com to see shoots from a month ago.
...And I took Dean to the doctor today and he has a sinus infection. Hopefully tommorrow he will be back to himself again. But I will miss him always wanting me to hold and cuddle him. My they grow too fast....

The Sickies

Well, it is sick time in TN here at the Prince home. Ella Reese is on the last bits of a cold and is coughing like a seal. And poor Dean had a fever that spiked pretty high all day yesterday and last night. It is gone today, but he is still pretty miserable. Last night he woke up on the hour, every hour crying and wanted to be held to sleep. Poor little guy! So this morning I wanted to be shot I was so tired.

At lunch as Ella was entertained my her soup, and Dean was napping, I turned to Psalms for some much needed soul food and this was such an encouragement to me!

" It is good to give thanks to the Lord! To sing praises to your name, O Most High;

to declare your steadfast love in the morning,

and your faithfulness at night,...

For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work;

at the works of your hands I sing for JOY!"

~Psalm 92: 1-4

I am reminded of God's steadfast love for me today (" this morning") and aware of his faithfulness to me last night as I was up with Dean.

I thought I would share that. Hope it encourages your soul today and rejoice in God's faithfulness no matter what trials you face today!

And also,..maybe these pics will lighten your day.

Here is my Dean on a happy healthy day....

And this what he is looking like the past few days..

This was taken this morning. Ella Reese's dress up outfit. She is just missing her pink purse. I love it when she plays dress up. It is so cute!
I love this guy. Our 5 year is on Dec 27th. I can't believe 5 years have passed!
Love you babe!
xoxoxoxo


I am in editing land right now. I am working on a wedding right now and I have 2 shoots waiting in line. Then I have 2 shoots this weekend. Sometime before Christmas I will post all my shoots back from Oct to present. So I prob won't post anything else till then. I just had to post this one verse...Have a great week!

Gobble Gobble *

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

Love, the Princes Ella Reese's Thanksgiving turkey we made the other day. I asked her what she was thankful for....the "church water" on the list is the water cooler at church. She loves it.

I usually don't do this....

...but I just finished up this shoot from a week ago and I had to early post these. I LOVE LOVE LOVE these three from the shoot. It was a family shoot that are neighbors of the Bohanan family. Thanks for the referral guys!
Coming soon to be posted in the coming week....Sanders, Coopers and the Albrights.

Baby talk

Dictionary of terms and short phrases for the Ella Reese language :
1. " fank you very much" - She has recently added "very much" to her thank yous. It is so cute. She says it all the time...after I hand her a snack, help her with something, pull her covers up to her neck or "put back " (which is what she says when she wants me to put the spanking spoon back where we keep it)
2. "pankin wid da poon" - spanking with the spoon
3. I will turn her sound machine on and she will immediately exclaim "oh! too loud, too loud!" So I turn it down a notch and she will say with a grin nodding her head,.."jusss right!". Just right! And sometimes she will say after that "not too loud n' more" .....meaning not too loud anymore.
4. "summy"- means yummy
5. "D D Dora ". Like the begining of the song. She won't just say Dora. She always says D D Dora.

The kids favorite thing to do together. They will crawl after each other chasing each other back and forth in the house giggling.

VERY exciting NEWS!!

Dean started saying ma ma today! I love it! Along with other noises and gibber, he is starting to make boyish grunts. It is adorable!

Ryan commented yesterday he can't believe how big our little Ella Reese is getting. It is true. She is getting bigger and bigger too fast. I try to remind myself of this when there are days it seems like I am disciplining her all day and I think to myself, " I wish she would grow up!". Then I remember how precious this age is and how I dare not wish away these days!

Ryan's business is going very well! The Lord has certainly been blessing it! Thank you to everyone who has been praying specifically for this! We covet your prayers.

We are so thankful for God's provision with the necessities we have (food, clothes a roof over our head) and we are humbled that he is blessing and providing us with an abundance right now~ How kind of Him!

I also have been very busy with photo jobs. Also a blessing and a joy!

With all this extra work and the normal busy things in our life, we both are seeing a desperate need for the Lord to sustain us each. Ryan started waking up early and I followed. We both are attempting to wake at 6:30 before the kids and spend much needed time with God. But since the babies wake for me anywhere between 6:45 and 7:00 recently, I am trying to aim for earlier.

We are not coffee drinkers,...but we started. I drink decaf since I am still nursing...but I think having a cup of joe in the early dark morning mentally helps me wake up.

Trey, Nat and Pearl

I feel like I have pictures coming out of my ears! I am trying to catch up on my shoots. Plus I of course of lots of recent pics of my babies.
This shoot turned out really great. http://www.lillianprincephotography.wordpress.com/

Nine Months Old

Our Dean-o turns 9 months this Tuesday. Wow,..I can hardly believe it!
It makes me sad that he is quickly growing out of the newborn stages, but on the flip side it is such a joy to watch him grow and do new things! Maybe having another baby will cure my baby bug... Some new things Dean is doing these days...
- About two weeks ago Ryan and I were watching a movie in the living room and I look down to see Dean walking and pushing one of those walker toys across the living room! I was so surprised and completely shocked. I think I almost cried a little. Since then he likes to free stand all the time and will stand for several seconds. He will push his walker or boxes across the floor. Ryan said he would be walking when he turned 9 months...but he is not yet. But close.
- Things that excite him...
1) bath time..when he hears the water running he books it over to the tub in a high speed crawl. I will start the water...hear him coming, then I will pull toys in or wash cloths ready then look down to see him standing at the tub bouncing up and down.
2) Loves it when ER climbs into his crib in the morning. He loves her period. He loves her hair,..which he pulls. He loves to crawl after her and when he gets to her, he will crawl over her or onto her face.
3) Loves Ryan
4) Bluegrass. The finger picking kind. We discovered this yesterday. He will stand on his knees and bounce. He really likes music and songs in general and will bounce when he hears any.
5) Loves pears, cheerios and bananas right now.
- Started saying Da Da a few weeks ago. Along with all the normal baby sounds. But when they say da da it is so sweet!
- A tooth on the bottom came through last week. And I think the one next to it will be in this week as well.
- Anything he finds on the ground he loves to put in his mouth. Our wool carpet in the living room sheds like crazy and we hate it. Well, he finds those red fuzzy balls and he acts like it is some kind of a delicasy (sp?)! I have to scoop those things out his mouth all day...along with other things. He won't eat them....just chomp. Needless to say we are going to get rid of our rug. Soon, I hope!

Big Girl

We have been saying that a lot around here lately. About two weeks ago she was starting to climb out her her crib in the mornings and after naps so I decided to put her in her toddler bed. She took to it pretty well and it wasn't a really huge transition.

But last night at 2 am I wake up to hear her crying hesterically. I had found her in the middle of the floor crying and I figured she just fell out her her bed. Well this morning I see that she has a knot on her head and some skin missing, a bruise underneath that, and what looks like a burn mark under her chin. Weird, huh!?I can't figure out how she got all that from falling out her bed!
Some other big girl and new things:
- Almost can sing the entire alphabet.
- One day all of a sudden she starting calling me mom. I almost wanted to cry and said. "no Ella Reese, say mommy". To which kept calling me mom. Then the next day she started calling Ryan Dad. It is weird, but I suppose I am use to it now.
-Counts to almost 15 sometimes
-Tells me "fank you" for everything thing! Even after I spank her for getting out of her bed, I pull her covers up and she will tell me "fank you!" in a sweet high voice.
- She loves to play with dean under the dinner table after meals or anytime. She will say " hoo hoo dean-o!" and clap her hands or slap her legs to get him to follow her. She will crawl off and dean will excitedly follow her.
-She likes to help me carry groceries from the car to the house
- I will find her singing songs to herself. One day in the car she sang "fank you, fank you fank you!" over and over all the way home from walmart. It was too cute.
If she hears a song a few times she will sing it. She knows the chorus to a lot of the Matt Redman worship songs I am listening to now. It is so cute to hear her sing "I will wor-ship you!".
And I have a favorite song on my Passion CD where in the chorus a girl sings "Hal-le-luuu-jah!". And ER will sing it with arms stretched out and lips up in the air swaying her head back and forth. Very charismatic.

I found this Ariel make up stand in someone's trash by the curb. I snagged it and gave it some TLC. Ell Reese loves it. She will wear this apron Brenda got her (which she calls her Cinderella dress), wear her Cinderella slippers and put on "make up". She really looks like a big girl when she started playing with it. She has little odds and ends that she decorated her new make up stand when we first put it in her room. She decorated with a purse we made out of trash that morning during our Art time, a toy car, a ceramic bear that Brenda got her, her panda bear and I gave her an old make up brush and empty compact. It seems over night her "baby room" has turned into a big girl room. So sweet, but sad to officially see my baby not a baby anymore!