Family Portraits - 1 year after becoming a family of 3

These were last minute photos taken by friends of ours, Mike and Emily Cuccarese. They are amazing photographers and you can check them out on their site at: www.cuccaresephotography.com

A lot has happened in a year, we extended our family with the birth of our son Josiah, David started back at school, I graduated this past May and in that same month we moved into a much bigger house, a miracle from God considering our financial state and prayers. Josiah finally has his own room, although I admit that I will miss waking up to his babbling and peeking over my covers to see him standing in his crib next to me with a huge grin on his face. His transition in his own room couldn't have gone more smoothly - the first night, he slept 11 hours!! (this is compared to the 9 he usually sleeps- probably because David and I keep him up..lol). Anyways, getting back to the photo shoot since that is why I decided to blog, these were taken the night before we were heading off to the Dominican Republic. We has arranged to visit David's family and celebrate our 2 year anniversary there for months and since we were gonna be gone for over 2 weeks and Josiah had just celebrated his 1st birthday, we wanted to squeeze in some family portraits before we departed. Needless to say, that was a busy day of packing, rushing to stores to get last minute items, etc. and my family was not dressed how I envisioned us to look but here we are...and I love them :) I am a blessed mommy-wife indeed.

Lovely advice...

Some lovely advice I wanted to pass along from: obliteratedheart

Health:

1. Drink plenty of water.

2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.

3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

4. Live with the 3 E's - Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy

5. Play more games.

6. Read more books than you did in 2009.

7. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes a day.

8. Sleep for 7 hours.

9. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:

10. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

11. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in positive present moment.

12. Don't over do. Keep your limits.

13. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

14. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.

15. Dream more while you are awake.

16. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

17. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.

18. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.

19. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

20. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

21. Realise that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

22. Smile and laugh more.

23. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Society:

24. Call your family often.

25. Each day give something good to others.

26. Forgive as you have been forgiven.

27. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6 - You'll learn a thing or two..

28. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:

31. Do the right thing!

32. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

33. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

34. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

35. The best is yet to come.

36. Your inner most is always happy. So, be happy.