It’s too early in the week for a brain dump, you say? I usually do one of these once a week, but like to save it for the end of the week. Not this week, sisters. I promise it’s not going to be really bad and full of terrible, no-good things.

• So storms swept through the South last night. And I guess they’re still rolling along. After last April, this terrifies me. Even though I knew that Columbia wasn’t in the path of the storm, I woke up a lot last night checking my phone so I could check the weather where my friends live. It’s terrifying.
• I was also awake a lot during the night- or I guess really early morning. Hayes had a late supper last night– around 5:30 or 6:00. I had mentioned that we had moved his “supper” to 4:00-4:30 because he kept waking up in the night with a diaper issue. So moving his supper totally solved that problem. And last night’s late supper had him awake in the middle of the night, so we were awake in the night tending to Hayes. Changing him and settling him back down only took about 15 minutes, but I was wide awake after that.
• In super-awesome Hayes news… He likes food now! Baby food, finger food, yucky food, good food. He loves it all! Yay, Hayes!
• Though we didn’t get bad storms, we still got rain. So the ground is all wet. Don’t you hate it when you have to get out in the rain and your pants drag through puddles? Then the bottoms of your pants are soaking wet? Really, this is one of my least favorite things. A wet pant leg is like a wet sock.
• I think we’ve only seen the sun in our area once in the last two weeks. It’s just so gloomy. And one day it’s humid and warm and the next day it’s freezing and raining. The gorgeous Japanese magnolia tree next door is blooming. It’s January! It’s too early! It’s so confusing in the south. I love it in late February when that tree starts to bloom and it is gorgeous in March. I’m afraid that it’ll bloom and one big storm will cause all the blooms to fall off. These are the things I worry about when I look out my kitchen window.
• You would not believe the amount of money we have saved this month by eliminating Starbucks visits from our lives. I love Starbucks. So, so much. But now I have my Keurig. And I also have Starbucks K-Cups. Starbucks at home? It’s the best!

A few years ago, I stumbled on the website of a Charleston photographer whose images completely captivated me. Hudson was just a couple months old and I was looking for a photographer that we loved who would take our family pictures and capture our boy as he grew.

That photographer’s name was Tracy Turpen.

She came to Columbia when Hudson was 5 months old and it was one of the greatest experiences. Sometimes spending an afternoon with a photographer can be tiring and when a child is involved, it can be frustrating. But this was so much fun! We had a blast. And we left feeling relaxed and like we had not only had our photos taken, but we had made memories in the process.

Tracy was so relaxed and she just let us do what we wanted while she did her thing. We fell in love with the photos. She captured so much emotion and we were blown away by the vibrancy of each photo.

We worked with Tracy two more times; once when Hudson turned a year old and then again when Hayes was born. We trusted her and always knew that she was going to just capture the moments and the photos were going to be real. I can’t even find the words for what she’s able to do with light and color because I’m not a photographer. But I can find the words to tell you about how kind and patient she was. How she just wanted to be there to have fun and find the beauty in every tiny little detail. And that is what we love so much about the photos.

She was with us the first time Hudson put his toes in the ocean.

We can see our family’s personalities in each photo and I’m just so grateful.

She gave me a gift just by getting pictures of me with my kids. As the one who is always behind the camera taking pictures of my kids and their daddy, I am thankful to Tracy for capturing some of the tender moments with my boys.

…And the fun moments with my boys.

I was so sad to find out on Thursday that at 27 years old, Tracy passed away. She was a mother to a little boy who isn’t much older than Hudson. She had a fiancé who loved her endlessly. And she was an incredible talent and businesswoman. She had accomplished so much in her short life and brought unspeakable joy to so many lives. She is the reason that we have some of our most precious memories preserved so beautifully.

She was kind, generous, loving and unbelievably happy.

Though I only spent three days with her over the last three years, I considered her a friend because she knew our family so well. I’m deeply saddened over this loss. Her beautiful images will be a constant reminder of how much talent she had.

I don’t know the details of her passing and I never like to ask “why” when someone so young is taken from us. Her family and close friends are in my prayers.

I will continue to visit her website and blog to be reminded of her very special talent that I loved so much. It was a hobby of mine just to check her blog to see her latest, beautiful work.

This unexpected loss has reminded me to let those that I admire and appreciate know just how much they mean. It has reminded me to be patient and loving to the most important people in my life. It has also reminded me of the importance of sharing my faith whenever I can and to pray for opportunities to do so.

1. I am sick and tired of the campaign commercials and phone calls that are going on leading up to the South Carolina Republican primary. It’s constant and it’s exhausting. Political opinions aside, my home has been invaded by campaign commercials and phone calls. And it’s going to be worse in the fall!

2. I’m extremely intimidated by a well-written blog. Or maybe I’m intimidated by bloggers who are great writers. Same thing? Thankfully, I can read these blogs and learn from them. They teach me how to find lessons and value in the little things that happen every day that I may have otherwise ignored.

3. I got a few questions about why we’re reading the Bible through this year. For me, it’s not so I can just rattle off scripture, (though having memorized scripture would be pretty great) but so that the Words are just in me and with me at all times. So I know as much as I can know. So that my actions, reactions and words will be changed because of the Word I read daily.

4. The mommy wars are exhausting. I’m so tired of it. And it makes me feel bad about myself because I criticized someone or because someone criticized me. Isn’t there anything else to talk about? Working vs. staying at home. Sleep training vs. not sleep training. Formula vs. breast feeding. Why are these things even discussions? When someone blogs, tweets, posts on Facebook or calls you to talk about her experience, she’s sharing her experience. (I’m not talking about myself here, I promise.) I just feel like I see it everywhere and it’s constant. Let’s just be supportive and stop questioning why someone made the choice she made. I should have added this to my resolution list! I think it’s natural to feel like a different choice is automatically a challenge to the choices we make, but I know that’s not true. I don’t choose differently to challenge someone else. I choose differently because it works best for my family. And I think most moms to do the same thing. Being a mom is hard enough without having to battle other moms.

5. Hudson was awake 5 times last night. We still aren’t sure why. But each time, we tucked him back in and kissed him. He’d fall back asleep for an hour (it felt like 15 minutes) and then he was up again, crying. So sad. We were all very tired this morning.

6. I really like watching Revenge. But I think it’s actually really cheesy lately. Am I alone? The music, the facial expressions. It’s definitely a prime time soap opera, in my opinion. But I can’t stop watching!

7. I started reading Divergent yesterday- finally! I love having a Kindle on my iPhone. If I get a quiet moment to read, I can just pick up my phone and read a quick chapter.

8. Speaking of TV, I had no idea Idol started back last night until I saw it on Twitter. And I didn’t watch it. I’m not sure that I’m going to watch this season. I said that last season and I still watched. Also, I have abandoned watching The Bachelor. No, thank you!

9. I really need to start working on photo books for Hayes. Actually, I need to be taking more pictures of Hayes.

10. Speaking of Hayes… he is 8 months old! And I need to do his 8 month post!