Little Missy

Kelli isn't always real excited when I pull out the camera and she really protests when I want to do her hair! You will notice in most pictures of her it is just down and tucked behind her ears, because "that's the way she likes it!" Well I convinced her to let me put french braids in her hair the other day, and the only reason she let me was because I told her that I used to do the same kind of braids in my sisters hair when we were growing up. We even called Aunt Danielle and Aunt Lauren after they were done to let them know all about it! Aunt Danielle made us promise to take a few pictures, so I took the opportunity to get as many as I could! Here are a few that I liked...

Photography

It has been a while since I have posted! I actually have been busy working on some avenues to help me do more with my love of photography and hope to share more with you all very soon! Here is a picture that I took of Kelli last week. She is getting so big! And Emily is keeping us on our toes! You saw the previous video clip of her scooting. Well now she is crawiling and tonight she pulled her self up to standing!! It's ridiculous really, she isn't even 7 months old!! I think we are in trouble! =) I took a video of her standing herself up and as soon as I recharge my batteries in the camera, I will get it on here!

On The Move

Watch Out World! Here comes Emily!!

I found a feature on the program I use to make these movies, that allows you to play it double speed...I applied it to this video just to see how it works, and it make me laugh, hope it does the same for you!

Anna's Aztec Salsa

We had an amazing homemade salsa at our Women's Retreat last weekend and I thought I would share the recipe with you. Now keep in mind, I am not a vegetable person...you should know that from previous posts, and this salsa is loaded with veggies and I ate it by the bowlful! I think I have proved the theory that you can develop a taste for something! A few months ago, I think the sight of this salsa would have been displeasing, much less the taste, but at the retreat, I saw it and couldn't wait to try it! They served it with Frito Scoops and I had it today with Tostida Multi grains, both were great! Anna is the sweet mama in the previous post!

Anna's Aztec Salsa

2 cans corn, drained
2 cans black beans, drained
8-12 Roma tomatoes chopped
Large red onion chopped
2 packets of Italian dressing mix (powdered)
2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
4 avocados chopped
hot sauce to taste
red wine vinegar to taste

Sweet, Sweet Baby

I was priviledged to take sweet Mason's pictures last week! This is my first shoot with a young baby and it went really well! I am pleased with the first pics I have had a chance to work on and I will share more as I have them ready! Thanks Anna for letting me photograph your sweet boy! And big sister Lily too!

Marley Anne Taziona Whitfield

We got more pictures of my sweet "niece" today! Elise is like one of my sisters so I feel that is an appropriate description of my relationship to this sweet baby! Of course no disrespect to her true aunts and uncles!! They decided on a name too! Marley Anne! So cute! Pray for Elise, it sounds like she has a spinal headache! We know all to well how miserable that can be from watching Heidi suffer so horribly after Eden was born! I know she would appreciate your prayers! It must be the angle this first picture was taken at, but she looks huge! Remember she is only 5lbs9oz! Actually probably even a little smaller! Elise's milk has come in, so that is a big blessing! She will be growing quickly! The later pictures will show you how small she really is though!! Congratulations my sweet friends! Love and miss you terribly!

Pictures of the new arrival and an update from Luke

Dear Loved Ones We are so excited to share with you that we have been blessed with a little baby girl. We have not decided on a first name but have chosen 'Taziona' (spelling will probably change) this is a Zambian name that means 'we have seen it'--we have seen the Lord's faithfulness. She was born at roughly 6am (CST) 2pm our time, and was a whoping 5lbs 9 oz. and measured around 18in. A tiny baby compared to our first three. Although small she is perfectly healthy and took to breastfeeding like she had a nipple in the womb,hah! Mom and Tazzy are doing fine and Elise is recovering very quickly. For those of you praying for power cuts it worked, praise God!! As we were getting ready to walked into the operating room the power came on, He is so faithful. I have attatched some photo, more will be on the way but it has been a hectic day. Praise God for our new addition and we will keep you posted on the name game. More details and pics to come soon. Love you all and PRESS ON & INTO HIM!! The Whitfield <><

Healthy Baby!

Just got off the phone with Elise's mom in law and we have a healthy baby girl! The c section went well and both mom and baby are doing well! She was really tiny, only 5pounds 10 ounces (Elise's last two were 9+ pounds). The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck several times, but she let out a good hollar upon arriving! They don't have a name yet, they were convinced it was a boy! As soon as I know more and I am sure we will have some pictures soon too, I will post again! Oh and she has a bunch of curly hair! Thank you so much for all your prayers for this dear friend of mine!!

It Is A Wonder They Survive!

Andrew was off of school today because of Presidents Day. I am in the midst of planning a big retreat that is coming up this weeked at our church. I was having a hard time keeping them busy so I could have a little bit of time to work on some of the details. The kids asked if they could work on a "project" that involved painting. I decided that the mess would be worth having them be occupied for a chunk of time by something other than the tv. So I told them that as long as they put their painting shirts on that it was fine with me. So they got everything all put together to do their "project" (still don't know what it was). After about 20 minutes, I was out in the kitchen picking up and they both come in and Kelli is holding a cup of water cloudy with the paint left behind from rinsing brushes. Andrew has a silly grin on his face as Kelli exclaims "Mom, we used my water glass to wash our brushes! And guess what? The water still just tastes like water even with the paint in it! Andrew drank some and so I did too!" =) Gotta love the curiosity! They both were forced to drink 2 large glasses of paint free water!

My LIttle Artist

Kelli has just started drawing people. She came out the other day with this drawing and said, "Mom, isnt this a great picture of me and daddy!" Since these are the very first people that she has drawn, I was pretty impressed! Thought you would get a kick out of it!