Sister Maternity Photo shoot

So, let me just start out by saying that before my sister (Amanda) and I were even pregnant, we talked about doing a maternity sister shoot because how cute would that be? We were so excited to do it..we just had to get pregnant. At the time, I still had my IUD in, I believe and we were thinking about having it taken out to start trying and her and her husband had already been trying. I eventually had my IUD taken out and my husband and I started to try to have another baby! We decided to start trying because my sister’s both weren’t getting pregnant very quickly so I thought that since I had an IUD in, that it could take longer for me to get pregnant- but that was a joke! I ended up pregnant about 3 months later and I anxiously waited to hear that my sister was pregnant, too. I will say that I was worried that she wouldn’t get pregnant in time to do a photo shoot with me. BUT it happened!! She finally told me that she was pregnant and I was back on that Pinterest, pinning every sister maternity shoot I could find! I was so excited to be able to do this! Thankfully, our little sister is an awesome photographer, so when we went up for Christmas- we also did our photo shoot! It was pretty much the only time we’d be together before Baby Lisk was born. I am so excited at how amazing they turned out! Here are a few of the pictures that I wanted to share with you all:

Amanda wasn’t showing as much as we were hoping, but I think they still turned out really great! Plus, I love having my little sister to do shoots because it makes it so much easier and I’m not an anxious mess that I usually am when I have other people take pictures of me. 🙂 Special thanks to my little sister for being her. Check out Vander Warf Photography for more pictures! 🙂

I always said I wouldn’t be like my mom..

What a joke. I’m so much more like my mom than I thought I’d ever be. Parenting-wise, I mean. I think I’m a pretty laid back type of parent and I’m not super strict, which could change considering Braxton is only 2 1/2. You don’t realize what you say is all that bad until you hear your child say it and you are suddenly aware of what you say when you’re around them. I try not to lose my temper, but I do. I try not to swear in front of Braxton, but I do. *and it’s usually because I’ve lost my temper and patience.* But I try.. As a teenager, I always said I’d never end up or be like my mom..and that’s exactly what I’ve become. It’s not a bad thing, don’t get me wrong, she’s an amazing mom and one of my best friends. I just find it funny how much things change when you grow up and have kids of your own. I’m constantly asking for her advice, even when it’s not what I want to hear, I know she’s usually right. 🙂 She’s a great mom but an even better Mimi to the kids. And in all honesty, I actually try to be like her and parent like her..which I’m not exactly succeeding at, but maybe someday. 😉

These are just a few pictures of Braxton with his awesome Mimi! 🙂

I don’t think you realize what an awesome mom you have until you’re older, anyways, and start to really cherish the time you have together. I love watching her with Braxton because the love she has for him is unconditional and so much different than what I’ve ever seen. Yes, she loves her children but I think grandchildren have a different and special place in grandparent’s hearts- I can tell you that I can definitely tell a difference with my dad. 😉 He’s a sucker for these cuties!! Ha-ha!

Moral of the story: I will be quite alright if I end up like my mom. That’s what I strive for and hope for. Yes, she’s made mistakes but she’s human and I’ve made my fair share of mistakes already, too and I still have so many more years to learn. But if I’m half the mom she is, I’ll be a decent mom and I’ll be happy. 🙂

See ya, FL..hello, TN!

We are HOME!!! Hallelujah! Not that I don’t miss Florida or the vacation, it’s the drive that gets to me more than anything. NOT to mention that the truck is not the most comfortable place ever. It’s actually not comfortable at all. 

 There’s another picture of the seashell I got from Braxton. I don’t know why but I really love this one. ❤ His little hand. The tiny seashell. Innocence. Love. 

I don’t have much to really update on but stay tuned because we have some exciting news coming your way in a couple weeks. =) 

Florida Vacation Fun!

We are enjoying our Florida vacation and sadly, it’s almost over. 😦 Today is our last full day here, tomorrow, we head back up to Tennessee. Back to reality. I’m going to definitely miss being on vacation, though. 

Sunday, Braxton, “Grandma Jo”, “Papa David”, and I went to Saint Pete Beach because Braxton has never been to the beach before and I’ve wanted to bring him the last 2 years! So, we finally went and let me just say that it is so gorgeous! If we could afford it, I wouldn’t mind living on the coast there. 😉

We stayed in a hotel for the night so the next day we could go to the beach again and the pool. Braxton loved the pool because he could jump in and go under and stuff. He wasn’t too thrilled about the ocean because it was really salty. But he did like the beach once he got used it. 🙂 He is definitely more of a ‘pool boy’ which kinda sucks for me but oh well! 

How stinkin beautiful is this? Oh my gosh!! It was gorgeous and I was so excited I got a picture of it. ❤ Paradise.

Some mom’s get flowers, I got a seashell. ❤ It’s not a great picture and it’s probably because it was a pretty small shell but it was from Braxton so of course, I had to keep it. He is such a sweetheart! 

Why do vacations end so quickly? We’ve enjoyed our time with daddy while he’s been off of work. I’m sure it won’t take long for us to get back into our routine but I’m going to miss the vacation. 

Florida Vacation..

After enjoying a great Fourth of July weekend with my parents in Chattanooga, we pretty much came home, ran errands, packed up and headed to Florida Monday night. Heath got done with work at 9pm and we left about 11pm for our wonderful journey. With a 2-year-old, it was just a whole ton of fun! 😉 

We figured leaving at night, he would sleep most of the way. Joke was on us! We stopped at like 3am for gas and he was then up until about 6..he fell asleep when we were like a half hour away from the house. Little stinker!! 🙂 But we’ve been trying to enjoy our time here..

Braxton and I enjoyed the pool the first day we were there..this Florida heat and humidity is going to kill me!! I’m telling you.. 

You cannot tell me this picture doesn’t crack you up!! LeAnn’s face is hilarious!! He had a blast playing with Le yesterday for a little bit. Braxton has definitely missed his partner in crime. 🙂

Braxton’s other buddy is “uncle” Dalton. He loves him. I love this picture..Braxton is such a lover and you can so tell in this picture. That’s probably one of my favorite things about him. I don’t know if I ‘made’ him that way or if that’s just how he is. Either way, I love it and him so much!!!

❤ I love how imperfectly perfect he is. 

More to come on our lovely ‘vacation’!! 

I failed today..

as a mother. I’ve been exhausted lately, and literally fall asleep until like noon. Why? I couldn’t tell you. I have my hypothryoidism but I’ve been taking my medicine like I should be and everything. My only thing that would make sense is that 1. I need my medication increased again or 2. I’m pregnant!! As much as I would love to be pregnant, I would probably freak out a bit too. We’ve been ‘trying’ for a couple months now and not even trying all that hard. Heath works a lot so it’s hard for us to try to have a baby. Plus, with my bad day today, I was thinking about all the what if’s? What if he doesn’t get a job with TVA? What if I am pregnant? What if this all doesn’t work out how it’s supposed? What if, what if… I need Heath to get that job with TVA because it would make our lives so much better.

Anyways, I feel like my patience was so very thin today. Braxton was driving me crazy. I feel like I failed as a mother today. Yes, I love him. Yes, I showed him love (I do everyday!!) but I still feel like I could be better. I don’t have someone to tell me I’m doing ok. That I’m succeeding even though I feel like I’m not. I hate that this is how I feel some days. Other days, I’m ok. I don’t beat myself up over this kind of stuff. So why today? Why now?

Does it ever get better?

I’ll never understand it.

I’m nowhere near a perfect mother or person. I make plenty of mistakes. I had a child before I expected to. I yell, I cry, I get frustrated almost daily, I lose my patience almost daily as well, I struggle, and I regret some of my decisions- but one I’ll never regret is having my little boy. He is my world. He has made me a much better person. As I watch other mothers and children, I can’t help but think of how lucky I and Braxton are to have each other. I don’t think I’m even a good mother, I think there are a lot of people out there who are better mothers or who would make better mothers than me. There are also people out there who are worse than I am and that saddens me so much! 

How can you not hug and kiss your child? (I’ll admit, I do it probably too often but I can’t help it!!)

How can you expect your child (who’s around 2/3) to be perfect? They’re bound to make mistakes. 

How can you just let someone else take care of your children and have the nerve to say to me “it’s hard with 2 but I’m doing it on my own” when I know you’re not. 

It makes me so sad for those kids. It makes me hug and kiss Braxton a little more because I know how blessed I am. No, Braxton isn’t perfect, he’s a little hellion sometimes but I love him. He’s a part of me and he’s my and my husband’s responsibility. There are some things in this world that I cannot fathom and that’s one of them. I just want to ask how? why? I’ll never understand it. 

A child didn’t ask to be brought into this world. That was on the parents and it’s sad how many parents don’t step up to the plate. There are couples out there who want nothing more than to have a baby and can’t or have to work very hard at it. How many more times can I mention how sad it makes me? 😉

Children are mistreated everyday for years. Children die everyday. I love my son everyday and try to be the best for him. How can everyone else not do that? 

Family Fun!

Heath’s stepmom was up for Craig’s balloon release and she stayed for about a week and she wanted to go to Pigeon Forge for a couple days and hang out. Thankfully, Heath had the three days off since he gave away a shift so we had some quality family time too, which was much needed!! We didn’t really do a whole lot..just hung out by the pool and went to the Rainforest Adventures Zoo there. The kids had a blast, though and we all enjoyed our time together- so it was a success! 🙂 

Of course, I take a ton of pictures because I don’t want to forget memories and my family up north and down south and all over the place like to see the pictures- so I can’t disappoint. 😉 Of course, there are some memories that are in my head and not on camera and for that, I’m ok with.

 

Just a couple of collages full of pictures for y’all! 🙂 What can I say? I love them. I wish I would have gotten a family picture but we were busy just having a great time & enjoying the company of each other.

Father’s Day!

So, I know this is late and everything but life just seems to fly by me as I try to play catch up with everything else. So, Heath had to work on Father’s Day so Braxton and I were in Chattanooga and got to spend some time with my amazing daddy. 🙂 Yes, I wish we could have spent time with Heath and everything but that is life as an EMT. 

Anyways, we celebrated Father’s Day with my dad by going to church, and then going to Big River Grill! We got my dad some beer (can’t go wrong with it!) and had a great weekend hanging out with family.

We then came back home and saw Heath at work for a bit and gave him his present. I don’t know about him, but I just love it!! I don’t have a picture of it but I was really happy that it showed up in time for Father’s Day! 🙂 SCORE!!

Just a picture of my dad with his half of his girls (the other two weren’t there..obviously!) & a collage of a pretty amazing daddy to Braxton. I love these two guys more than anyone can know. They’re my heroes. 🙂 And I know that Braxton looks up to these two guys..as I hope he always does because they truly are amazing men. 

Water Park Fun!!

So, Braxton and I came to Chattanooga this weekend because Heath is literally working all weekend. all dang weekend. Don’t get me wrong, the money is nice but I miss him. I miss having him home and I miss having a husband, Brax’s daddy, and my cook. 😉 I know it’s hard on him working 24 hours a day for 6 days but it’s hard for us too. It’s hard to pretty much be a single parent while he’s gone. 

Anyways, my sister, Becki, came in this weekend from Nashville so we went to the water park with Braxton. It was so much fun!! It was cheap and he couldn’t have had more fun! Besides the fact that he just loves the water, he had a blast at the “spray park”. It was perfect for him!!! Of course, here are some pictures!

 

 

 

Now, I’m not all about the summer in Tennessee because it’s so bloody hot!!! But when we’re able to go to the pool and cool off- it’s so nice. I love hanging out with these ladies and it does give me a little extra break. It also wears Braxton out quite a bit- so that’s always a plus. 🙂

Ok, another post tomorrow because it’s Father’s Day!! Hope you are ready for some gushy stuff! 😛