Updated car seat recommendations

I've always been a stickler about car seat guidelines, so I was really interested to read the new guidelines.  

excerpt from New car seat guidelines:  Will you put your tween in a booster seat?

So much for one of the greatest perks of moving on from the baby years -- the liberation from gear. Just when you thought you were rid of the sippy cups, strollers and crowded backseat, the American Academy of Pediatrics has updated its recommendations on car seats, lengthening the time kids should use them.

Among the changes in AAP guidelines:

• Children should ride rear-facing to age 2, or until they reach the maximum height and weight for their seat. (The old policy from 2002 cited age 12 months and 20 pounds as a minimum for when to turn a seat around.) 
• Children should use a booster seat until they have reached 4 feet 9 inches tall and are between 8 and 12 years old.
• Children should ride in the rear of a vehicle until they are 13 years old.
• Entire article here:  http://moms.today.com/_news/2011/03/21/6302625-new-car-seat-guidelines-will-you-put-your-tween-in-a-booster-seat

Mercedes Kids Marathon 2011

This was Emma's 5th year, Abby's 4th year, and John Brady's first year to participate in the Mercedes Kids Marathon.

Good luck hugs before the marathon

Emma was a very serious runner this year!  Go Emma!

Abby, on the other hand, took this time to chit-chat with her friend, Gretchen.  Abby did say they ran some, too.  :)

Getting John Brady ready for his first marathon.

Go John Brady and Daddy!

They loved getting their medals!

And they love having their grandparents there to watch them!

John Brady's Kindergarten Field Trip to the McWane Center

John Brady went on a kindergarten field trip to the McWane Center with MeMe.  I think they both had a terrific time!

Great start to our spring break! (dripping with sarcasm)

Well, spring break is here.......finally!  The kids are so excited!  Saturday morning at the breakfast table Emma announced that she had turned her alarm clock off the night before because it's spring break and there's no need for an alarm clock.  She is exactly right!  By the time spring break rolls around the kids are really in need of some down time!  Unfortunately, this down time has become an absolute must for two out of three of my kiddos.  Abby was diagnosed with an ear infection yesterday and John Brady was diagnosed with the flu today.  :(  On the brighter side, I am glad they didn't have to miss any school for their illnesses and hopefully in a couple of days they will be feeling much better.

Somebody please pull these teeth!!

Can you do this with your two front teeth??

and yes, he still has the teeth on either side of these two!

The Seed

Since moving my studio from my home to an actual business location that I now rent, we have been able to make our upstairs bonus/office/junk room into a bedroom for Emma. Emma and Abby have shared a bedroom since.............................

(Abby's baby bed is on the left and Emma's on the right)

Since not everything from the upstairs room went to the new studio, it's found a great new place for the time being, my old studio space, i.e., the dining area.  See.

Side note: I submitted this picture to an interior designer who was having a "room make-over" contest and won!! Yea me!!  Room make-over here I come!!  :)

Since priority one was getting my studio open for business and priority two was getting Emma into her new room, this dining room mess has been on the back burner.  Although I've been in no real rush to organize it (especially since I will now have professional help), I have been transferring pictures from old albums to new ones. It's been quite a sentimental journey.

About a week ago, I found the newspaper copy of a great photo taken by my mother-in-law, Joy, many years ago. As you can see, she took the grand prize in this photo contest. I'm not sure of the exact date the photo was taken, but I know she won the contest not long after Brady and I started dating. When The Tuscaloosa News printed it, I cut it out as a keepsake. There was something significant, something special about this picture. The little boy, Curt, is a very special family friend of the Lawson family. The little girl is Kendra, my sweet cousin. The photographer, my future mother-in-law, captured this beautiful moment between two friends. I placed this picture under the clear sleeve of my binder and carried this picture with me to every class, to every lab, to every study group, for a solid two years while at UA.

After sitting in our dining room floor holding it in my hands once again, I realized the significance of the picture. It marked the beginning of my love for photography. How, after all this time, did I not realize it? The very moment captured in the photo is the very basis of my photography. If I can give someone just one shot that will move them like this photo has moved me, I have done my job. It is so surreal to me how a seed planted so long ago grew and found it's way into my life. I am truly blessed.

Thank you, Joy, for taking this photo and for so much more.

Horsing around at Emma's birthday party

For her birthday, Emma wanted her friends to meet Skip so we planned a horse themed birthday party at her Nanny and Papa's house. 

Another beautiful cake from Mrs. Elaine Renfroe!

Emma with her friends Jordan and Daisy.  Daisy is holding one of Emma's baby bunnies.

The weather was too yucky and cold to ride Skip so everyone visited with him in the barn.

Lawson gave Skip a nice little pat on his nose.

Daisy loved the bunnies!

Love these girls!!

Emma demonstrates Papa's homemade boot pull.

Jordan got the hang of it.

Daisy did, too.

John Brady's turn.

MeMe and Brady are checking out the toy ball Lawson gave Emma for Skip.

A bag of sweet feed for Skip from a sweet cousin!

The cutest cowgirls you'll ever see!

Abby was with her friend, Lizann, in Atlanta, celebrating Lizann's birthday.  Needless to say, it was a huge weekend for us!  Emma's 10th birthday and the first time we've ever let one of our children travel to another state without us!  Abby had a wonderful time, but was ready to see her momma after two nights away!  I was ready to see my Abby Claire, too!