Joy of Love Day 28- The Future

While three is a magic number we both hope and pray that our families future includes becoming a party of five one day! We both still have a very strong desire to adopt internationally one day and we of course would be thrilled beyond belief if God blessed us with another miracle baby. In fact we both believe God will fulfill those desires one day. All that being said though if Ava Kate is God's final addition to our family we will always feel complete with the love and joy she has brought into our lives!

"We prayed for this child and the Lord has granted us what we asked of Him."- 1 Sam 1:27

"Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him."- Psalm 127:3

Joy of Love Day 27- What They Say

In her first week of life as she sucked on her pacifier and looked like a little bunny rabbit her daddy started calling her his bunny and the name has stuck. I often wonder when we're out in public if people think her real name is Bunny!

Joy of Love Day 26- The Bromance

What is Justin's favorite activity of the week that doesn't involve Ava and me? Sunday night Life Group basketball. And these guys take it very serious! I'm glad Justin has these guys in his life not just to play a little hoops together every week but to encourage each other and spur each other on in their spiritual walk and in their daily relationships.

Joy of Love Day 25- When You Love Them Most

There are many things I could have taken a photo of for this day unloading the dishwasher, doing laundry, working out with me, working on his honey do list, rubbing my feet but none makes my heart tick as fast as watching my love be a daddy! And I love that he is sharing with Ava his love for the arts!

Joy of Love Day 24- Where

Chapel On the Hill, where my love and I began our forever!

Joy of Love Day 23- Facebook

Today's Joy of Love assignment was choosing your favorite photo of your love from Facebook, either that they posted of them self, that you posted or someone else tagged them in. I had a really hard time choosing one so I picked three instead. And I didn't do this intentionally but I ended up choosing one of us while it was just the two of us, one of us while we were anticipating the arrival of our party of three and one of my love and our little love!


I have always loved this photo of us because it is so handsome of Justin!



I love the genuine look of joy on our faces here and how it so perfectly portrays the fact that though we endured several years, tears, procedures and disappointments it was all worth it for this joy!



And this one just melts me!

Joy of Love Day 22- Portrait

My handsome love, his beautiful curls and gorgeous blue eyes!

Joy of Love Day 21- Hands

One of my favorite things my love's hands do... give my tired, achy feet a massage... almost every night!

Joy of Love Day 20- When They're Home

I thought it only fitting to have a photo of Justin laying on the pillow next to me for my When They're Home assignment. After all this is one of the places where I feel most at home, snuggled up in bed next to my love!

Joy of Love Day 19- When They're Gone

This was an easy assignment for me, take a photo of the way your home looks when your love is gone. I immediately thought of an empty pillow next to me in the bed. I HATE when Justin is gone and I have to sleep alone in our bed. I can probably count on my fingers the number of times we have slept apart since we've been married. Feeling him next to me in bed is probably one of the most comforting, safe and warm feelings I've ever known.

Joy of Love Day 18- Going Out

Today's assignment was to go out on the town. Although we didn't exactly have a hot date, we did get to go out to a nice dinner with Justin's parents and Ava. We were supposed to ask someone to take some fun photos of us while we were enjoying our night out on the town. We lucked out on that since we had Justin's mom with us. Some of the photos turned out a bit blurry but that's okay it is just nice to have some photos of just the two of us again! As you can probably tell we had some fun with this assignment!

Joy of Love Day 17- Staying In

A typical night with my two loves is filled with tea parties, playing baby, hide and seek, reading books, a little TV and lots of snuggling! Staying nights are my favorites!

Joy of Love Day 16- Together

This turned out to be the hardest Joy of Love assignment so far. I wanted it to reflect what we do when we are together. We tried taking a several sitting in the bed watching TV together and reading but they were just cheesy! When I thought about what we enjoy doing together I thought of working out. A couple of months ago I got Justin to join the health club again and we've been getting to workout together for the first time since before Ava was born. We are doing a program called Art of Strength together and it has not only been great for us individually but has given us a shared adventure again. So this photo was taken after we got home from the gym in our sweaty gym clothes. I love getting to share something I love with my love again!

Joy of Love Day 15- The Kiss

Holding a camera with one hand and kissing at the same time takes some practice, I don't think Justin minded the practice, in fact I'm quite certain he would say this was his favorite of my Joy of Love assignments thus far!

Joy of Love Day 14- Jewelry

While shiny, sparkly, unscuffed jewelry is beautiful I find much beauty in the scratches and scuffs of our wedding rings. It's symbolic of our 8+ years of marriage which has not always been easy and has left us with some scuffs and scratches along the way but has also made our love more real, meaningful and beautiful!

Joy of Love Day 13- Routine

Nothing goes unpressed with this man, although he has a few daily routines I could have chosen to photograph, ironing stands out as one of the most consistent. This is a man that irons his t-shirts and to think he married a woman whose only knowledge of ironing is the tumble cycle on the dryer.

Joy of Love Day 12- Eyes

I love the tenderness of his eyes when he's getting hugs from his baby girl!

Joy of Love Day 11- Dreams

This was a more challenging assignment for me to figure out what to photograph, what is my loves dream? I know he wants to land a great principal job, would like a new truck, a good nights sleep but what is something he has dreamed of for a long time. After some thought I figured it out, the Masters. Justin would love to go to the Masters Tournament at August National. And I hope one day we can make that dream come true for him!

Joy of Love Day 10- Where They Are Comfortable

Most nights after Ava is tucked in bed this is where you can find Justin, in the oversized leather recliner, kicked back, watching TV and playing Words With Friends or Angry Bird on his iPhone. I think it's safe to say this is where he is comfortable.

Joy of Love Day 9- Passions and Hobbies

Today's Joy of Love assignment was to capture in a photograph your love's passion or hobby. If you know Justin you know his passion and his hobby- GOLF! It is in his blood, his father coached collegiate golf for over 20 years and I've watched his mother shoot par, I'd say he was destined to be a golfer, wouldn't you? Last spring he had his first hole in one, something I could never dream of doing! I do hope as Ava gets older golf can become a family affair. Since the temperature didn't get above freezing today I decided a photo of his cherished golf equipment would have to do!