When you love something you run after it

So that is exactly what I have decided to do.
Ever since my kiddo was born, I have fallen in love with photography.
I love to capture every aspect of this little girl;s story that God is enfolding right out in front of me.
My pictures tell the story of her life and I hope that when she looks back on them she can see her ferocious love of life.
I have prayed about it....and prayed again...and God knows that I have thrown myself into every job under the sun since leaving Campus Door and becoming a mother....but God keeps placing the same idea under my nose everytime.
So, I am listening to him....and so far, so good.
I have offered a number of free photo shoots with folks that I know and the end product seems to keep getting better.
I have signed myself up for photography classes at our local community college.
I have taken a number of online photography tutorials now....which by the way are free and actually very helpful. It is like having a teacher all to yourself.
So ladies and gentlemen, as my friends will tell you, when I want something bad enough I throw my hat in the ring
Here is my hat....www.justsostacy.com and I am ready to learn and grow and capture other peoples happiness one shot at a time.
When God throws the same ball at you twice...you should catch it before it rolls out of play. Check out my blog coming soon!

Catching Up

I dont know how you other bloggers do it? How you manage to parent and work and still keep up with a blog? LOL! I miss this place.

Let's see, here is a brief recap of our last few weeks.
Audrey turned 1!
we celebrated with family. She got alot of great cards and gifts.

She was a bit overwhelmed as the center of attention( this surprises me...since Jim and I will both fully admit that we love to be the center of it all)
She didnt really love her cake.

She was zonked mid way through her celebration!

A few weeks later, my folks had their annual picnic. This years theme was a luau.
Audrey managed to catch the spirit and enjoyed some time in her hula skirt.


More recently, we attended my home churches 150 yr anniversary celebration. We got to see old friends. Audrey enjoyed the singing and lunch.

Later that day we made our way to the Coolidge Hollow Peach festival, where we ate yummy peach shortcake and ice cream!

what a fun time we have been having.

A Letter to my Daughter on her 1st Birthday

Dearest Audrey,

Happy 1st Birthday, my most beautiful girl.
This will be my 1st of many birthday letters to you. Someday, I hope you'll appreciate the gesture...a public proclamation of my love for you and my celebration of what each year has brought to your life and mine.
This year has surely been the most challenging and most rewarding of my life.
Nobody could have prepared me for the journey you have brought me to.
It doesn't seem possible that that tiny little person you were just 365 days ago has turned into a walking, talking, sippy cup drinking-out-of little blondie.
I have probably paused at least 100 times during the last 12 months to stare in wonder and reflect on how one tiny little cell developed into such a grand little person.

I worked so hard to make something out of myself professionally and personally, yet you have become and will always be my greatest masterpiece, my symphony.

I have so many hopes for you, great hopes that may seem minimal to you right now, but someday you will understand the importance of them: That you would be honest and have a heart that understands and loves other people, compassionate; that you would be governed by love and fairness and know and embrace the person that God has molded you into; that you would maintain a sense of silliness that I already see inside you.
Don't rush through your life like I feel I have often done. Don't pass others on your way to where you are going that may need your help along the way.
Be slow to anger or offer a word that might hurt another. I have struggled to keep my opinion in check and wish often that instead of being disparaging, I would realize so often that what I am critical about in others is usually something I recognize as a fault in myself. Know who you are, even the not-so-great parts and don't be too hard on yourself.
Appreciate now that you will probably be taller than most of the boys and will probably spend most of your life in the back row of pictures. But go ahead and wear high heels anyway. I have always envied girls who are tall and still can pull off a nice pair of heels.
This year has gone by faster than a wink, and I can't wait to see what your next year has in store for you and the rest of us who love you and center so much around you.
I will end this love letter by saying Thank you. Thank you for every sleepless night( Your dad is 100 times cuter with a sleeping baby in his arms), for every ounce of spit-up on my work shirts(I probably looked better in the second or third outfit anyway), for every snotty tissue I ran through the wash( I got better at checking the pockets), for every smile, for every first, for everything.

Always Yours,

Mom

Beach Baby Beach Baby there on the sand

Well, we are back from our first week long beach vacation. We traveled 3 1/2 hrs to Dewey Beach, Delaware. We = Me, Audrey, Jimmy, My dad and Mom, Jim and Val and Lathan Natale.
Our beach house was set right in the heart of Dewey Beach, just a 5 minute walk to the sandy shoreline and a 45 second walk to the local bars....not what we expected.
Also, right next to the road...no seriously, right on top of the road....
HOWEVER, we settled in and despite the small surprises, we set out to enjoy ourselves.
It was one HOTTTTTTT with a Capital HOT week!
But, we enjoyed time on the beach and boardwalk during our first few days there.
My mom and Dad were kind enough to allow the Natales and Jim and I to go out for a kid-less dinner in Rehoboth and a little shopping time; although during our child-break our conversations centered most frequently on our kids. What can we say, we love them!
Val and Jim and Lathan headed home on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, we rested.
On Thursday, rented a pontoon boat and headed out for a crabbing trip on the Ocean City Bay. Audrey HATED the lifevest. For the first 5 minutes I was pretty sure we were going to need to turn around, but once the vest came off and we dropped anchor, she was quite pleasant.
Friday, we spent the day at the bay beach and went crabbing. Jim scooted around on his raft. Mom and Audrey sun-bathed. Later that night, we headed to the Rusty Rudder for a much needed SEAFOOD FRENZY!!! I am still stuffed!
We tried family pictures later in the evening, but Audrey WAS NOT having anything to do with it....her pleasantness finally wore out it's welcome!
PLEASANT is something Audrey typically is, but sometimes PLEASANT TURNS to CHAOS..TANTRUMS...LOONINESS!!!!
I am trying very hard to navigate this change in my daughter. Sometimes, it can be a bit trying...but I'm...trying.:)
To say that that made me a bit edgy on vacation would be an understatement.
I want to be a good parent! I want my family and friends to believe that I am a good parent!
I forget sometimes that my mom, who is laden with advice just wants to be helpful, and not judgmental.....SOOO I am having mixed feelings about my behavior on vacation and many regrets.
I feel like I need a vacation after my vacation.
I feel like my mouth should be the one washed out with soap.
I feel like I am the child sometimes trying to lead my own child.
I feel like my husband puts up with alot of my bitterness.
I feel like God is up there shaking his head back and forth and wondering what in the heck I am doing.
And despite it all....I think I AM a good mom.
Just sometimes...I'm not the perfect wife, or daughter, or friend.
So I feel like I should include an apology to my vacation-mates for my snappiness and bad example.
If you never want to go on vacation with me again, I would completely understand and yet, just like I love my daughter even when she is chaotic...I hope you will too....love me.

Late night with Audrey Salter

She must be in training to take Conan's spot or maybe Jimmy Kimmell, because Audrey will not go to bed before 9:45 pm. She does whatever she can to stay up as late as she can. Around 8:45 pm, she begins to throw herself on her side or back, like she belongs on a fainting couch, and laughs and hides her eyes. I have to admit, it is actually very cute and she thinks it is even funnier when I throw myself on the floor and mimic her. She thinks it means that I want to wrestle so she gets in a few superplexes and body slams.....yet still....no going to sleep.
Do you think there are people who are actually born to be night owls? If she goes to bed before 9 pm, she still wakes up around 3 pm and searches all over the room with her eye to find some type of food source ( aka the bottle). If she goes to bed after 9 pm, she stays down until 7:30 am or later.
Sleeping in general has become quite a touch-and-go for us.
I chalk this up to what seems to be an ear infection that never quite goes away and a new tooth coming in literally every other week....she's up to 8 and the 9th one of working it's way down. Needless to say, I again break every mommy rule in the book and I lay with her in the spare room. If I can lay next to her and prop her up in a boppy pillow, and it means that she doesnt get drainage into her ear...guess what....I'm doing it!
I am really good at breaking mommy rules...and I am sure more than one person is shaking their head and saying "you will pay for it!"
I try my best!
She is on a schedule, but it's flexible. she can fall asleep anywhere and it is usually around the same time, once at 10:30 am and once at 3:30 pm.
She eats table food....when she wants to. She much prefers her bottle.
She sleeps when she is ready...and it works for us.
No matter what, here is what matters most:
I have a genuinley happy kid who enjoys wagon rides, being outside in her swing, watching her fishies, teasing her puppy dog, sitting in her little tikes tug boat, watching the kids across the street catch fire flies, splashing in her pool, pressing her face against the front door glass, banging pots and pans in the kitchen...and I love her for all those reasons.
It's 10 pm and her daddy has finally put her down. I will carry her up the steps and place her in her crib and maybe,. just maybe, we will get some sleep! :)

Lake Tobias

Last weekend, Mom, Jim, Audrey and Aunt robin and I headed to Halifax PA to enjoy a morning at Lake Tobias Safari and Zoological Park.
We got there quite early....in fact we were the first in line.
We got our tickets to the Safari Ride and enjoyed seeing emus and Elk and Deer and Buffalo. We even fed the animals crackers.
After our ride, we enjoyed the petting zoo and animal exhibits.
It was a wonderful, inexpensive trip; well worth the day! We loved it!
We cant wait to go back in the fall and see how much our new little animal friends have grown and changed.

Niagara Falls and Camping

Over Memorial Day weekend, Jim, Audrey, my folks and I headed to Kent, NY.
My dad has had a camper at North of The Ridge Campground for the past 15 years.
We made sure we had our passports, including Audrey's, and we made our way across the border to Canada to visit Niagara Falls. This was Jim's first trip to the Falls and Audrey's 2nd vacation.
We strapped Audrey in our backpack and headed to sight-see.
Audrey did great!
She enjoyed watching all of the people.
We took turns carrying her around. As you can see, we got some great shots during our vist.



That evening, we visited Browns Berry patch, one of our favorite spots for ice cream and entertainment.
Our friend the self feeding goat was there and we got our picture taken in some of the cut outs.

The next day, Jim and I headed out on the boat with my dad.
For 6 hours, we enjoyed the calm water...but we caught no fish.
While pulling into the dock, Jim noted that he could see fish from the walkway of the dock. One minute after saying it...Jim leaned in and caught a fish with his bare hands. quite funny!





We had a great time with my parents. We enjoyed the campground and sights.
We cant wait to do it again.