Feeling Sad

Today I am experiencing a heaviness that I know can only come with grief and missing my late husband, Art. I don't know if the trigger is the holidays or just me missing him. Every once in a while I see his smile in my mind or in the picture I have on my desk and it makes me smile and cry all at the same time. So I guess you are probably wondering why I am blogging about this, in part I am wondering the same thing too. I guess it is because I have talked to the Lord, wrote in my journal, read scripture, listened to music and yet I am still wanting something more tangible but not too tangible like a phone call or seeing someone. I don't have that much energy right now. So I thought I would blog maybe get a comment or some prayer from some of you out there who read my blog and it might help although who knows when you will read this. Thanks for reading my blog, it is a community in its own weird way.

The Mystery Continues...

So there has been rumors that one of the blake boys use to poop in the tub. The mystery is which one? After Leah's post on Cassie pooping in the tub, we thought for sure the mystery was solved that it was Tom since the apple doesn't fall to far from the tree and everyone says she has Tom's personality.


However, within this last two weeks, Noah has pooped three times in the tub. The first one happened while Paul was giving him a bath at my parents house. I came upstairs and Noah was crying and Paul had this look on his face like this is so gross. I asked him what happened and he said Noah fell and pooped in the tub. I was shocked since he had never done this before but sure enough I looked in the tub and there was some floating in there.


Round 2: One of my best friends from college, Ali, came up to see us at my parents house in Florida since she moved to Fort Myers from Chicago. She and her husband brought their little girl Cami who is only a couple months younger than Noah. We thought it would be a fun idea for them to take a bath together before putting them down for bed. We decided to put them in their swim suits so we could take pictures and it was a good thing we did. Noah was acting really strange during the bath he wouldn't sit down and didn't really want to play; however, he did try to give Cami a few kisses. Once bath time was over, I discovered why. Yep, you got it there in his swim diaper was a big poop.

Round 3: Today, I gave Noah a bath since he hadn't had one since his bath with Cami. No more then one minute into Noah playing in the bath, I sit down to read my book when all of a sudden I see poop floating in the tub. He is three for three right now. I am hoping this is not going to become a trend.

So.... Paul Blake, you are now back in the running for the mystery pooper.

"Those are some big shoes to fill"

"I want to be just like you, Papa!'

Noah loves his cousin Cassie!

What a joy it is to watch them together. It brings a smile to my face even as I am writing this.

Hello from Florida

So the big news in Florida is that my sister got a new pool put into her backyard and a new dog who they named blessing. The great part about the pool was that it was heated. Noah had a blast both with the dog, the pool and his cousins. His new thing that he has been doing is hitting and hugging. We like the hugging part but we are still working on him to be more gentle.

We celebrated thanksgiving early with my family in Florida since the plane tickets were ALOT less two week before. My mom of course cooked a wonderful meal and had the house all set up with decorations and special touchs here and there. Everytime I am around my mom I appreciate and admire her more and more. It was such a blessing to spend time with everyone; however, now that I am home it makes me miss them even more. Below are a few more pictures from our time there.

A little video of my 3 year old niece, Ellie, in Florida

My first official photo job

For those of you who don't know, I decided to start a photography business. I named it Captivating HeARTs. The reason I choose this name is because you can often see someone's emotions through the photographs that can captivate those who see the pictures. The reason ART is captialized in the HeARTs is because ART is the name of my late husband and I truly treasure every photo I have of him. This is one of the reasons why I have such a passion for photography.

So here is how I got my first job: Leah, Maerett, Susan and I go to a coffee shop that has a playground in it at this church every Wed. morning. There are lots of moms and kids that go there so I decided to put up a flyer on the community board about taking photos. The other day I was going about life as usual when a different number showed up on my cell phone. I answered the call, the person said is this Lauren? I said yes. She said I saw your flyer at the coffee shop then asked a few questions and then said can I book you? I said yes. So we set a date and I hung up the phone. I was excited.


However, on the way to the job I was nervous. I asked the Lord for a peace and His creativity. The family was really great and I had a lot of fun taking the pictures. Below are my top five.

A nice fall day for brothers to play

"What should I do with all these leaves?"


















" What happened, ma ma?"

Noah fall photos

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