His stance couldn't look anymore like a 16 year old here than it does.
His aggravated look on his face because of my cameras presence couldn't scream teenager anymore than it does. His style couldn't be anymore handsome than it is. Quite a good lookin' kid if you ask me. I know you didn't but I'm just sayin'...!
When he wears his under armour sunglasses he reminds me of the movie TOP GUN. GQ'ish and stealth like. Which character is he..."Goose" of course. Cocky and good lookin'! The hair is almost an exact resemblance.
I love that I convinced him many many years ago that real men wear pink. To this day, he'll throw on a pink polo and not even think twice about it. Oh yes...one day he is going to make that wife of his a very lucky girl.
In 10 days he will be 11 years old. It feels like just yesterday that the doctor looked at me and said..."He's breech. We'll need to do a C-section." That was my first clue that nothing about Brennen would ever be of the norm. He is a special kid. One who is madly in love with the idea of protecting his baby sister. (except when she comes into his room and dumps all of his cars) I'm so blessed and thankful for his caring and loving spirit. He has an overflowing heart filled with compassion which is just out of this world.
I love how he shares my same love of music. We share Itunes songs back and forth all of the time. He loves everything from Christian music to hip hop - just like his Mama. Yes, this child knows a good tune when he hears it. He makes me smile when he cranks the computer in his room and listens to my playlist on this here ol' blog. I hear him belting out tunes and think..."yeap, that's my boy."
In 10 days, he will be eleven. In 3 months, he will graduate from being a 5th grader in elementary school to a big 6th grader in junior high. I basically have three months before our world gets turned upside down. Let's face it...middle school was the starting point for all of us. The start of the distance which ensues between parents and their children. It makes me cringe at the thought. I want him to be 2 all over again. I want the chili bowl haircut back. I want the blues clues videos back that he would dance to, and the sound of his little voice when he would say "Close the gate Papa, close the gate!" (old joke amongst him and my Dad) Geez...one minute he still looks so very small, playing like a child would when I gaze out at him...
and the next minute he stands so very big, straight, and tall - looking like he is 10 going on 25.
I'm clinging to each day - hour by hour.
Yes, he is growing up right before my eyes. They always do. Today I'm feeling it a little more than the usual. Because of that, I came here to journal those feelings and embrace them. Embrace the growth and the power of life. I love this boy. Love him to the sun and back ten gazillion times over.
Oh what a day. It was gorgeous for the most part. I began my day listening to the warm Florida rains pour down like a raging waterfall. That type of rain is rare here. While taking in the sounds of quiet other than the rain, I cranked up Ray Lamontagne in the house and rocked out to his mellow tunes while listening to the rain outside my windows and while finishing some final edits on a few images. It was a blissful morning. Relaxing, peaceful, and slow going. Loved that. There is something to be said for warm Florida rains, having my laptop in my hands doing what I love (editing photography) and jammin out to good ol' Ray. I found myself saying "Thank you God for warm Florida rains, for my camera, and for Ray...of course." LOL!
The rain quit after about 30 minutes and then the sun came out full force. Typical Florida weather. When that happened, I grabbed "Big Pappa" and headed to the beach with Ray now jamming on my stereo in the car on the way. It was a stunning day at the shores edge. I went scouting out some new photography locations. Found some good ones too. A perfect day.
On another note...I visited a new cardiologist down here in Naples yesterday. I've been having some really strange episodes of palpitations in the middle of the night. They are three times as intense as my older ones and my blood pressure drops way down when it happens which sends my pulse racing - ultimately waking me up from a deep sleep each night. The cardiologist seems to think I might have a specific kind of palpitation that could ultimately result in needing surgery to be treated effectively. He says I am too young to be going thru this at my age. I agree. I am being sent to an electrophysiologist now. I don't see him for another three weeks which makes me nuts but apparently this doc specializes in only patients with severe palpitations. I'm nervous yet eager to hear what he thinks and what he has to say. Please pray for me, once again, regarding these heart matters. It was almost a year ago when I was diagnosed with the PFO issue to do with my heart. Now this. I'm trying to remain upbeat but it is scary at times. Scary at night a lot. I'm tired of being tired and tired of worrying. Just trying to have faith that God is in control and that hopefully this can be treated without a surgery - maybe with a different prescription or something. And lastly, I was skyping with my Dad the other night and he had a girl scout come to his door selling cookies. I told him that I hadn't seen any girl scouts here in Florida yet. I was craving my favorites...the thin mints. Low and behold...about 3 days later...look what showed up at my front door...
Wait for it...
Waaiitttt for it...
Yeap, not only did he get me some thin mints and shipped them to me but my StepMom made homemade chocolate chip cookies and homemade brownies for me too. Well...for the kids and I anyway. Ha ha! Guess it is good to share, right? LOL! Don't hate. You heard me...don't be a "hater." Do I need to get you guys some hater-ade? Hee hee! Yes, I am absolutely spoiled rotten. I have wonderful and amazing parents who definitely take good care of me. It was great to get a little taste of home. Thanks Dad and Cath...I love you guys so very much! Needless to say, the cookie and brownie stash was gone in two days. I had 1.5 brownies and one cookie out of it before the rest was depleted by little monsters. Gotta' love em'! They saved my hips for the week. Bwwwaahhhhhh!
Hope all of you are having a great week thus far. Enjoy hump day tomorrow. Hugs, Angie
Here is another one of those shots where there is just beauty in the mundane. Call it my obsession with lines again, I donno. Whatever it is...I just love when birds are all lined single file up on an electrical wire - let alone on a pretty day - right above the beach with blue skies AND pretty white fluffy marshmallow clouds. I took these image several weeks ago and something lead me to share it today. Although it means nothing to you guys, it makes me smile. Can you imagine just chillin' with your B/F/F's all day long up in the blue pillow-y skies with the beach down below? WOW! What a rough life that would be. Real, real, rough. Fo' sho'! :) In the end, this is just another example of how we pass this type of stuff daily and the images never register with our brains that they mean anything or that they are beautiful enough to be noticed. The beauty in the mundane again. The stuff we see day in an day out but never truly "feel" when we see it. I snapped this image because I wanted to remember what I felt when I saw it and I wanted to feel the smile that it brought to me when I thought about hanging with my gur-frens on a live wire all day long. At.the.beach! This was another scene that being a photographer taught me to see that I otherwise would not have.
For now, I'm off to tend to my littles - my Kenidi Grace - who has been home sick since Monday. She is sitting right here beside me eating chex mix and popcorn now that she finally has an appetite back. I'm just glad to see her eating - I don't care if it is bucket loads of chocolate at this point. Hoping you are all having a great week. PS...I'm starting to get lots of calls from clients about wanting professional beach portraits done when they travel here to Florida for Spring Break next month. If you are heading to the Ft. Myers Beach, Naples, Marco Island, Sanibel Island, or Cape Coral areas for your upcoming travels and would like to schedule a session with me...shoot me an email. I'd be honored to photograph you, your family, your children, etc. A huge thanks to all of you who continue to pass on my name to others in regard to photography needs. Your word of mouth referrals are priceless. I can't begin to express how much they mean to me.
I've had many of you blog readers ask for shells from here in Southwest, Florida. For those who've asked, I've gone shelling to pick them out and then those who want them have paid for the shipping costs to ship them from here to their particular state. While I had another set out today getting them ready to ship, I thought I'd take some pictures of them just for the fun of it. I've been dying to get out and shoot since this weekend so this helped temporarily. :)
These particular shells came from Sanibel Island. My Mom and I walked on the beach over there one day and we grabbed these as we walked.
Sanibel is known for their "shelling." They have gorgeous shells over there - pretty good sized ones too.
We found coral too.
I love the way my 105mm macro lens just picks up every little minor detail of these shells. You can almost feel the grit of the sand still on them.
I found this one (below) still in tact and connected...two halves still attached...
And this shot below...ummm...it's my new fav. Again, the detail that the macro lens provides is nothing short of amazing.
And oh yeah...I forgot to mention that we found some dead star fish on that walk too. I decided to bring them home for Brennen to see. No...I didn't ship these to my blog readers with their shells. LOL! I did take photos of them though. How cool is this shot??? (below)
and another...just a bit further back...
And this last one...another one of my favs...
Hoping that the receiver of this package of shells loves them. They sure were fun to find and collect. Any afternoon in the sand, sun, and surf makes for tons of fun though. :)
Just an FYI to let everyone know (in case you haven't noticed) that we've got new blog buttons which have been updated at the bottom of this page. I know some of you have the old blog buttons on your pages that can be updated to these new ones. (they don't automatically update) And for those of you who would like to add the blog buttons to your site or blog who haven't before, I'd be so appreciative. I am always so grateful to each of you who are willing to place my buttons on your pages/sites. It means the world to me. Here are copies of what the two new buttons look like...
In order to copy and paste the code for these buttons, you will need to scroll to the bottom of this page. Highlight the code for the button(s) you want to place on your blog or site. Then go to the top of your page on your toolbar and click on "page." From there, click copy. Then, you should be able to go to your page and click "paste" in the area where you add blog buttons, links, etc.
Again...a HUGE thank you to each of you whom are willing to add these to your own blogs or websites. I can't express my gratitude enough. Blessings, Angie
