I couldn’t resist posting one of the photos from yesterday’s afternoon with one of my best friends from high school, Tria, and her family, which includes newborn, Eli…So so sweet and cozy in this photo…More to come later this week!

When we visited my family in Tennessee back in July, we stopped by the farm where my brother and sister-in-law live in Spring Hill, Tennessee. Colin enjoyed every minute of his visit despite the awful heat of that summer’s day!  His Uncle Clint and Aunt Calli are very good with horses.  They can ride them, rope them, show them, judge them, train them…when it comes to horses, they are experts.  They found the smallest cowboy hat they could find for Colin and he’s  been very proud to wear it ever since. Here are photos from our hot afternoon on the farm!

The following post is taken from our adoption blogs which you’re welcome to read at www.brandtadoption.wordpress.com or www.russianblessings.wordpress.com.  It gives you a glimpse into our family story…

A mystery has unfolded recently at the Brandt household…my planter on the front porch was planted this year with snapdragons and assylum from a local store….Recently, some other plants started sprouting at the front of the planter and they looked sort of like petunias so me so I decided to let them continue growing.  This month, the flowers opened up in splendid pink and purple.  I told Alan that I think they are from petunia seeds I planted in the container back in 2008…I remember choosing old fashioned fragrant petunia seeds which I tried to grow in the container…I remember at the time that they didn’t do very well due to an insect attack.  Why would seeds from that long ago re-surface in the container?  I guess there is the possibility that somehow the plants I bought at the store had petunia seeds in them?  The fragrance of the petunias has convinced me that they are in fact from those seeds back in 2008…

So why am I sharing my petunia story with you today?  I believe that my petunias are a little surprise from God…I believe that my God is a God who loves me and delights in giving me good things…I have had some bouts of doubt and worry lately as I think about the adoption expenses that will be entailed in bringing home our daughter.  The petunias reminded me of the young woman I was back in the summer of 2008 when I was gardening and hoping and praying for my future child…it reminds me of that day in June when we first laid eyes on Colin’s photos and were asked to consider meeting him….of the day in July 2 years ago today when we first saw this precious face to face and God confirmed in our hearts that he was our son….God made me a mama through the gift of sweet Colin and I have faith that even though I can’t see my daughter yet, my God is active.  One day, like those surprise petunias, I’m going to be delighted by love and will see our daughter face to face and know that God has led us together…I’m praying that God will cultivate in me a more faithful heart that doesn’t let the doubts and fears of this world beat her down but lives with my hope firmly placed in my God who has promised to sustain me in the good times and the bad times…

Please join us in praying for our daughter wherever she is…that God will take care of her and for the well-being of her birth mother as well.  Pray that God will be glorified as He brings us together with our child and as He removes the mountains still between us.

Thanks for stopping by,

heather

I had the pleasure of meeting the Wehneman family last Saturday morning in a local park with lots of trees to offer us shade from the sunny humid day.  The family of five included three little girls aged 6, 5, and 2.  The little girls were good sports despite the humidity and the cold that the littlest one was battling.  I loved their beautiful eyes and the way the summer sun has naturally highlighted their hair.   The parents were excited to have their first portrait as a family in over two years.  Here’s a small peak at their family portrait session!  Enjoy!

More hours of sunshine every day=more playful photo opportunities outside!  We passed through Columbus, Indiana last weekend and enjoyed some of the beautiful public parks/art spaces they have.   If you have never visited Columbus, check out http://www.columbus.in.us/ to learn more about this beautiful city and some of the things your family can do.  It makes for a great day trip from Louisville, KY or Indianapolis, IN.  We enjoyed lunch and ice cream at Zaharakos, a restored ice cream parlor that has been serving yummy treats since 1900. The ice cream parlor had gorgeous woodwork in it and a restored orchestrion which they actually played once during our lunch. Columbus has a children’s museum which we hope to return to and more parks that we didn’t get to explore so I predict more family adventures there in the near future!

In 2007, we learned were diagnosed with infertility.  We have learned that infertility does not have to be a death sentence but, instead, can be a gift.  Since we chose to adopt, I have met many women who were on their journey to becoming mothers through the miracle of adoption.  Some of them brought their children home before we did and ended up inspiring me and supporting me during the wait for our son to come home from Russia.  Now that our son has been home since December 2008, I have had the privilege of talking with women in different stages of the adoption process.  I’ve been able to pray for them, grieve with them, and encourage them that the wait, as agonizing as it can feel at times, is worth it.  Since we became first-time parents to our son (no infant stage to ease us into parenting!  We hit the ground running…literally!), I have blogged about the joys, the heartaches, and the challenges of adoptive parenting.  I hope that my adoption blog and my conversations with adoptive mothers have inspired them that they too can make it through the difficulties of the adoption process and that the obstacles between us and adopting our children can be overcome.  There’s always room for miracles and our adoption story shows that!   I hope that I can continue to show my blog readers and friends that they can succeed as mothers….that every one has bad days and that adoptive parenting is not intended to be a solitary journey.  We must seek out help sometimes–whether it be therapists or support groups or friends or our faith–and that there is no shame in doing so.  When others see our son and how he is thriving in our home, may they be inspired to consider welcoming a child into their family through adoption.  That would be the sweetest inspiration I could ever hope to give!

If I am chosen to attend Amy Wenzel’s workshop I will be able to fine-tune my skill in photography so that I can celebrate families (including our own) through creative portraits.  I’d love to learn from Amy how she is able to imbue her photos with movement and personality that captures the joyfulness of living!  We are embarking on our next adoption so money is tight right now; the scholarship to Amy’s workshop would encourage me to keep at my dream of growing a photography business while continuing on our adoption journey to our daughter.

Thanks for stopping by,

Heather

This is my first time posting a photo for the weekly i heart faces photo challenge.  This week the theme is “hands.”  Colin enjoyed making “goop” one day as our art activity and boy, did he get his hands messy!  As his mama, I love watching him enjoy life!  Check out all the fun photo entries at http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/.

I’ve entered another contest of sorts, but this one I found out after entering is going to be based mostly on votes (YOU can vote for me at her site if you would like to do so) …It is for a mentoring opportunity with professional lifestyle photographer Brooke Snow (see her blog at http://blog.brookesnow.com/?p=611).

What it would provide:

A Weekend private mentor session

(2 hrs. on Friday evening and 2 hrs. on Saturday… one on one in the office discussing what I need to learn.  Camera techniques, creativity, editing, or business.)

-Private photography session of me

-Model session of my choice (family, kids, seniors, couples) where we shoot side by side. (sat.)

I  can watch how Brooke approaches a shoot and directs people, as well as take the reigns myself and have the opportunity in a non-pressure atmosphere to ask questions and treat the session as a photography lesson experience.  Afterward, we’ll come back and do a quick edit session to a few images and I can see the workflow process of post production. I would have to do this before May 30th, 2010 on a Friday/Saturday combo which would be a great combo with minimal time away from Alan and Colin (since they probably wouldn’t come with me).

Since we are saving up money for the adoption, I don’t have money set aside for workshops which tend to be in big cities other than ones close to me… If I won this, I would be able to continue working towards my goal of improving my photography and I could be mentored by a talented photographer with a business of her own.  I’m not going to worry about the logistics of air travel or cost of hotel right now because there is no guarantee I will win.  I figure that if God wants me to have this mentorship experience the details of travel will be minuscule.  For now I can only share with you this possibility and wait and see what may come of it

Thanks for stopping by,

Heather

In December, I participated in a contest by a nationally known photographer, Me Ra Koh, called Soar!  The contest’s goal was to empower women to live out their dreams to become successful photographers.  Only three women won the competition which was judged based on the women’s videos and written applications.  While I did not win, I do feel like the competition has been a blessing to me.  I have become a part of a network of women who are committed to becoming better photographers and succeeding in their own photography businesses.  This year, I have started this photo blog to document my journey as I improve my photography and to feature some of my photographs.

Me Ra Koh challenged participants in Soar to take their own self-portraits and object portraits.  I took my self-portrait on a weekend when we were snowed in.  My son was napping and my husband was downstairs playing his uke.  It was just me, my camera, and a cow tunnel…Yes, I said a cow tunnel.  My son has a tunnel that has a cow print on it. I decided to crawl in it and see how the white and black tunnel filtered the sunlight while I attempted to take my photo…I also thought the idea of me being in a tunnel was fitting since I am sort of in a tunnel right now….Not a tunnel without light, mind you…I definitely see the light streaming through but I don’t yet know what is going to happen next as we begin the process of adopting another child…as I attempt to grow as a photographer….As for my expression on my face in the portrait, I wanted to convey hope and anticipation since I am excited and happy about pursuing my dream of photography and about becoming a mother again.

As for my object portrait, I chose to photograph my hand (with a silver bracelet that has been dear to me since high school graduation) opening up the curtains…You can see a little of the window and the sunlight reflecting off the blanket of snow outside.  It is challenging to step out of my comfort zone and take the risk of seeing what possibilities lie ahead for me as a photographer…in learning there is growth and joy but there can also be pain…The same thing pertains to me becoming a mama again through the blessing of adoption…the unknowns of the process help me to grow in my faith like nothing else because they can drive me to my knees in prayer… and while having things out of my control can be infuriating sometimes, I know that when I meet my daughter the wait will have been worthwhile.

Thanks for stopping by,

Heather Brandt