Thanks for stopping by my blog- a place where I share a bit of my photography, a bit of my life, and a lot of me!
I am in love with the life that God has provided me. I live with my wonderful husband in central Oklahoma, in the town of Edmond. I am a wife, sister, daughter, and friend. I enjoy my work as a nurse and photographer. I adore sweets, nature, and my pesky (but cute) boxer, Honey. I feel that I am blessed with a passion for photography, and pray that I am able to bless others through it.
Thank you for being here and sharing the experience with me!
I can not believe that I have been shooting the Pratt's for almost 3 years now! Janna used to work with Ray (now she's at home with the boys) and was one of my first 'non-friend' clients. Now they've become friends as I've shot them every few months for the last few years. But now that their youngest is 1, I won't get to see them every 3 months or so, which makes me sad :c( We went to bricktown on Asher's 3rd birthday last week to capture Asher and his 1 year old brother, Abram. Enjoy-
Meet Francesca Wynne Fick! She is the beautiful daughter of Mike and Jessica, one of the couples in our life group. This sweet girl slept soundly through our session last week, enjoy!
Remember Mia? Well.. after 6 (I think) rounds of chemo and a big surgery, Mia's scans showed NED (No Evidence of Disease), which means... MIA IS CANCER FREE!!! For the first time in her life!
This is something to get excited about! Mia was diagnosed with Stage IV high risk neuroblastoma. Not a pretty diagnosis. If you find her one Caring Bridge, she explains all of the numbers in a recent post (Look for Mia McDowell, her explanations of all this cancer stuff are in an easy to understand lingo). But in answer to many prayers, Mia is now cancer free :c)
I just wanted to take a moment and thank our Lord for everything He's done: for allowing Mia a cancer free body, for all the support from friends and family, for the internet and it's ability to spread the word, for the many many prayers, and for all the hearts touched through this situation. I feel like it's easy to take for granted that Mia is doing as good as she is, but this battle is not over. Because this cancer is so mean, Mia is about to undergo a stem cell transplant, even though all the cancer is gone- just to make sure it doesn't come back. The transplant is quite an ordeal, meaning high doses of chemo and over a month in the hospital. So please, celebrate with me in the healing of Mia, and continue to pray for her and her family as they check into the hospital today. What a beautiful little girl-
I probably haven't talked about it in a while, but PhotoLife Group is alive and kickin'! I am still hosting it at my house every Tuesday, and it's been great the way it's grown in both photographers and their commitments. Photo Life has helped me become the photographer that I am, and I consider my fellow Lifers like family (and they have taken care of me like family, ie. meals postpartum and Christmas presents and all). What's really awesome, is my church recognized how rockin' we are! They needed a video to show at church about lifegroups, and asked to shoot ours (uh-oh, a bunch of photogs in front of the camera!). Below is the video they showed at the end of church the past 2 weeks (before this week). I love my life group :c)
PS. Normally when anticipating being on camera, I would put some effort into how I look (understandably). But this time I was trying to get both Isaiah and I ready, just kinda pulled back my hair and dressed warm. I wonder if I should have cared more, but I'm kinda happy that I can just be okay with me in every day! PPS. My high school friend Trent and his fiance (I'll be shooting their wedding in August) saw this in church (I'm learning about a lot of people who attend Life that I didn't realize). When Trent saw me, he told his fiance "That's Ashley!". She said she didn't know who I am, so he replied "Our wedding photographer". She apparently got excited and said "Ooo, we have a famous wedding photographer".- Ha! Not sure if this launches me into the 'Famous Photographer' category :c)
Ah... give me a second.. I can't take me eyes off this beautiful boy... second...second...second.. Okay! I'm back! Sorry, sometimes he just captivates me :c) Isaiah is about 5 1/2 months now and look at how good he's sitting (it's even more impressive on a still camera ;c) He toppled over just a couple times while I was shooting this, but never even fussed-
Onto the purpose of this post (goodness I'm sidetracked today!). The other day, someone at work was asking about Isaiah, and we got on the topic of cloth diapers. She asked how much I had spent, and I didn't have an exact answer. A couple days ago, I bought the (hopefully) last part of my stash- So I became curious and decided to get some numbers. Here they are-
$231 for 31 BumGenius all-in-one diapers (medium and large). I bought these all off of diaperswappers.com. Most are used (I never thought I would do that) but BumGenius has actually discontinued this diaper, so you can't buy them in stores any more. When my friend/sitter put one on Isaiah, I thought it was great! And love that I spend $8.00 per diaper!
These act just like a disposable, just wash instead of toss! They even have easy Velcro, which annoys my slightly because it makes the diaper look more worn, but at least they are quick and easy!
$79 for 4 Bum Genius all-in-one one-size diapers. These I use as over night diapers, and they "fit" from 8 lbs-toddler (I say "fit" because I thought they were way too big when Isaiah was smaller.. they fit, but left him with a big badunkadunk. That's actually the reason I decided to go with the sized diapers above)
$80 for his newborn set. This is a guess, as most were actually a gift. I wasn't going to invest in cloth for newborn since it's such a small amount of time, but I actually used these for a while and am glad we got started the first week!
$25 for wipes- this is another guess because all were gifted to me. But hands down I LOVE my cloth wipes. They are truly economical because you can throw them in with the diaper laundry that you're already doing, and the clean soooo much better! I just keep them in a wipes warmer (I do spend a small amount of money on a wipes solution, but this lasts me at least 4 months)
$57 for wet bags. Some form of storage is neccassary for cloth diapering. I have 2 sets each: large (for home) and small (for the diaper bag). These have held up well so far!
Grand Total: (drum roll please) $492
So I have a grand total of $492 (approximately) invested in my diapering supplies. This does not include the cost of laundering (I have yet to figure out the exact cost of that, but I wash and dry diapers every other day). I understand that laundering adds to the cost, but when I went to Baby Center's Baby Cost Calculator, they estimated $72 a month for just diapers. They also suggested $20 a month for wipes (that seems high though). Just the cost of diapers would be $864 a year. And it's not over after the first year! So I think that a $500 investment that will last me through all of Isaiah's life in diapers, is worth it. But here's the kicker... when number 2 comes around, I'll already have a great diaper stash (and the great thing about sized diapers.. I already have enough for 2 kids in diapers (unless Ray's wish comes true and we have twins...). I may just update a few diapers with my second, esp. if it's a girl, but I'll really only be spending money on the laundering part. So in the end, I certainly think I've diapered in a more economical way. But, tree hugger me, is also excited not to have all the waste! We do use the occasional disposable to get us through the next washing, or on out of town trips. But honestly, poop always leaks and I just don't like them as well. So, there's my experience so far with cloth diapers-
Here's my handsome man, ready for his center fold :c)
Check out Kelli and her adorable sons, Braden and Bryson! We got together on a nice Saturday and walked around the canal in Bricktown, snapping some fabulous photos along the way! Enjoy-
Braden was a natural in front of the camera, and he actually enjoyed it!
Bryson likes to play and have fun.. with a smile that is infectious!
The boys givin' their mom some love
Such sweet kids :c)
And goofy ones!
A family stroll
These boys are just too cute!
Love their brotherly love
More lovin' for mom!
See what I mean about that smile?!
Heartbreaker-
I work with Kelli and have met her kids a handful of times, but the instant they saw me, I was their friend. I love this! I was such a shy little girl that I'm always amazed by kids who can interact with adults in such a friendly way. Thanks for letting me capture your sweet family Kelli!
