the best wedding ever...

i was so privileged to fly up to delaware this past weekend and shoot Jenna Bell's wedding... it is my 3rd go-round with shooting a bell wedding, though this was my first time to shoot a wedding on my own... and it was a blast! she got married in an incredible garden, and with some amazing subjects, the pictures turned out beautiful. it was really special cuz jacob is in the marines and his platoon was there and well, you'll see how cool it was in the pictures......so many of you know the bells, and i thought you might enjoy seeing her pictures...

www.v-photography.com/jacobandjenna

....congrats to the new couple!!!! :):)

something about boys

what it is about boys not wanting to wear a shirt? the first thing andy does when he walks in the door is take off his shirt. ian's new thing is "mom, can i take my shirt off?"...i would say 95% of the time all the boys in my house are without shirts.... even tysen loves it! when he's fussing, andy will strip him down to his diaper and then he'll be just fine! its not that i mind it, but i guess as a girl, i just don't understand the obsession, cuz we aren't really "allowed" to do it....so maybe we just don't know the freedom...i don't know. its just funny....

You know you are a mom when....

you quite literally have to 'catch' vomit in anything you can find in .3 seconds! gosh! sitting at fuddruckers and ian starts emptying his stomach ...i grab a basket and that fills up in another .2 seconds...then major props to aunt kyle who's mommy instincts flew into action as she grabbed a cup and he filled that up instantly. poor aunt kyle, not even his mommy, but she definately gets the mvp award that night! dad was in the bathroom, so i would have been covered if kyle hadn't stepped in, since i was holding ian with one arm, and a basket of vomit in the other...ugh....
i am grateful that uncle joey had taken tysen from me about 1 minute before ian came to sit in my lap...so, i guess it could have been a lot worse....

we still haven't quite figured out our little ian. we have found him to either have a weak stomach, or some random allergies that we don't know about that causes him to throw up at inopportune times. (but really, when is a 'good' time?) it has happened several times now....we eat...ian complains that his belly hurts...he gets better and keeps eating....then starts acting weird....and comes for me to hold him...then blah! Vomit to no end....then...we're fine...totally fine! its the reaction we first had when he drank milk....so i keep thinking its related...but why isn't it consistent? he ate pizza for months with the cheese on, and then one random day....blah! after a piece of pizza! and he's eaten the chicken and fries from fuddruckers before...so why this one night ...blah! i don't know what could have gotten to him but its so frustrating to not know how to protect him!!
sorry for the gross blog, but sometimes moms just need to vent about the gross stuff too!!! :):)

new beginnings...

So...we took the boys to chuck e. cheese for a family day! they have this new token game that for one token, you sit in a seat and it takes a picture then prints it ...kinda looking like a sketch. maybe its not new, but i've never seen it, and i loved it!! we got everyone in the shot and for some reason, it was so much fun to me! i made everyone do it 4 times so i could have one for each of the boys photo boxes and one for the fridge. being a photographer and all, i was surprised myself in that i have means to much better quality, but for some reason, i was totally enthused about this!!! later i realized why i was getting this crazy rush....it was because this is our very first family photo with all my boys!!!!!!!! and there's this sweet feeling that this is it.

this is my family.

these are the andy vanderveers....

we are done (unless the Lord has a prank pulled up his sleeve) having kids and are ready to move forward with life in general...crazy sports schedules with 3 boys...loud houses...ridiculous grocery bills...lots of candles to cover the smell of dirty boys....and all kinds of fun (that i pray does not involve bringing reptiles and bugs into my house) that i know lies ahead of me. i've been so blessed and feel such gratitude with what the Lord has entrusted to us and we're all just so excited to grow as a family in the Lord together. So here's the beloved first picture of

my family...

on a totally different note...well, sorta...i've begun the grueling process of trying to lose the stupid weight i put on while bearing my beautiful boys. now that i am through being pregnant, i feel i've been out of shape long enough, and i thought that by posting it on my blog, it will put a little more pressure on me to stay committed...cuz everyone will know if i don't start slimming up that i'm not doing what i said i was going to do. i'm not starting with any 'weight goals'...in fact i put my scale away cuz i don't want to feel failure by thinking every day when i step on the scale that i will be 4 pounds lighter!! so, that's put away...and my goals right now are stay consistent. and Lord willing, i will slowly be able to get back into my own clothes. i've already been twice this week so -- here goes nothing!!

Swimming in Style!

So we went swimming with our amazing friends, the Souders today! They have an incredible pool in their housing community...Let me just tell you that it was like we were at a resort on vacation! That place is amazing! Its huge...plenty of tables and shade for tysen...and look in the background there...yes, there's a little island in the middle for sunbathers. A large waterfall and cave underneath to walk thru with a little swimming hole underneath. It was so much fun!!!!!

Tysen was even content to watch all the action from the side!!

Gone Again

I love these kind of pictures that show how much the boys are like their dad. This was just after Andy got back from his last trip...he decided to take a nap with Ian, and I went to drag them out of bed after 3 hours, and here's what I found!

So...Andy is gone for his second week long trip. They actually cut it short by 2 days, which I was super excited about...but he left today and will be home on Saturday. We are going to attempt this at home this time...so we are filling up our days with as much as possible to keep us busy. And the older boys will get to spend the night with Uncle Joey and Aunt Kyle mid-week to give me a breather, so I think we'll be fine. This trip is with some of the SALT group(Servant And Leadership Training)...they are headed to Missouri for a week of serving in various ways...should be a great time! And a few pics as always...I might be posting more often this week as its also a way to give shout outs to daddy since he can check email at night!!

Tysen is 2 1/2 months, and steadily growing! Last time we went to the dr. she had to re-weigh him because she thought it strange that he had gained a whole pound in one week...but she's just not used to the Vanderveers...He's smiling so much now!! Makes it fun for everyone!

Ian is almost 3!!!! What am I going to do with my middle child??? He's hilarious!!! Very much into super heros...and his new "trick" is to show you his muscles. For awhile, he would walk up to virtually anyone and say "Watch this..." and then proceed to raise his eyebrows up and down...Now its "watch this", then raises his sleeves and flexes to show his muscles...

And then there's Logan...4 1/2 and officially signed up for soccer this fall!!! He is so excited and tells stories of what he's going to do in his games (though I'm still not sure he knows what a 'game' is)...He's loud...and has lots of energy...but such a sweet heart. He really doesn't like taking pictures too much, unless he gets to make funny faces.

I will never tire of saying...

my boys