My Last Blog Post...

Yes, you read that correctly.  This will be my last blog post here.

Don't worry, I'm not going to discontinue blogging all together!  I'm not that crazy!  Just not here where my little blogging heart started with it's first beat in October 2011.  Metaphorically, I consider Foto Friendly Family a caterpillar.  It was where I began my life as a blogger.  I grew and had my blog grow with me.  I felt the need to branch out and become the much needed "new identity" of a butterfly.  Spreading my wings in my new home, and being free and comfortable in my blogging skin again under a new URL.  

I've moved and taken all of my past posts with me to...  Creating Cassie.  Click my new Blog Button below to get to my new blog site.





As some of you may already know, I originally created this blog, Our Foto Friendly Family, in October 2011 when Annaliese was born.  I had always enjoyed writing and thought about maybe doing the blog thing for awhile and finally took the leap.  I thought it would be a really good way for me to put our family updates out there to our friends and family who may not want to be glued to Facebook or Twitter for my updates.  Since then I have come to have a love/hate relationship with blogging.  I love to write my family updates, thoughts, experiences, life lessons, etc., but I hate that I don't always have the time or allow myself the time to blog as much as I want to.  It's definitely an understandable self conflict that I deal with.  I love nothing more than to actually live my life than always finding time to blog about it.  So like I said...love/hate.

So why "Creating Cassie" you ask?  Well, after spending 1 1/2 years blogging under a "family blog" or "mommy blog" as some would call it, I no longer felt comfortable in my blogging skin under that name.  I wanted something that I could have that I would use for not only family updates and mommy thoughts, I wanted a space I could use to write anything I wanted.  I'm a 30 year old woman who loves to explore myself as an individual as well as the wonderful world wide web.  I didn't feel that I could do that under the name of "Foto Friendly Family" or "Foto Friendly Mom".  In July 2013 I created this new blog, Creating Cassie, where all of my blog postings will go and I can feel more comfortable knowing that it's coming from me as a person not just me as a mom or wife just because I'm married and have children.  Yeah, it may sound weird, but that's right up my alley anyway. ;)


So there you have it folks.  I am no longer the blogger "Mama Cassie", "Foto Friendly Mom" or anything like that in my blogging world.  I am just me.  "A wife. A mother. A person. Always Creating Myself".  Thanks for sticking with me and standing by me through all of my changes here and following me to my new blog to watch me continue to create myself in the future! XOXO 

Wordless Wednesday - Big Sister In Training

A day late and a dollar short....story of my life.  ha!

Meant to post this yesterday, on actual Wednesday.  Eh...what the heck?  Post it anyway!

I think she's gonna be a pro ;)

Rockin' The Bump at 17 Weeks

Almost half way there!

With my first pregnancy, I was doing pretty good at taking baby bump pictures at least once a month.  Well this time, I've let 6 weeks go by since I took a baby bump photo...Ooops!  Mainly because I forget, or I don't feel pretty enough to get behind the camera to have a picture taken of me, or because chasing after a toddler exhausts me by the end of the day...

Yesterday I finally captured my 17 week (and 4 days) bump with baby #2!

Today, after reading Allison's link up post,  I am linking up with Shell over at Things I Can't Say for the first time for her Rockin' The Bump link up!

I have always loved seeing women rock their baby bumps!  Something about having a conversation with a woman knowing there's a little tiny kicking, punching, hiccuping baby in her belly makes me giddy!  I believe that all pregnant women are beautiful!  I mean come on!  What isn't beautiful about carrying the miracle of life inside of you for 9 months?

Well...if you consider the nausea and vomiting, fatigue, outlandish cravings, gas pains and acid indigestion, swelling, dark skin spots, stretch marks, acne...  (Need I go on?)  Those things may not make you feel particularly pretty or wonderful by any means.  But there's a reason that God gave woman this gift.  Because we can handle it.  Because we are capable of having the necessary emotional connection with our baby without having met them yet.  Because we are able to immediately provide nourishment and unconditional love for this being.

It's a beautiful thing.

Baby bumps are beautiful.

Babies are miracles.

Mommies are special.

So Rock Your Bump with pride!

If you're currently rocking a bump or want to go through your old baby bump pictures and relive those precious moments, link up here!  #RockinTheBump

On Board With Bloglovin

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Trying to finally get on board with Bloglovin, since Google Reader is no longer available.

That is...if I have any followers left!  Haha!  Oh I hope I do!  I'm back, I'm back!

XOXO

The Color Run 2013

Back in December 2012, I had mentioned here that some friends and I had signed up for "The Happiest 5k On The Planet" aka The Color Run!  I had every intention to train for this event and actually try to run the whole thing, which would've been a first...but one slight...ok major  detail changed that.  Fast forward to May 19, 2013 and the day had come!  The only thing that had changed between December and May was the fact that I got pregnant and was having bad sciatic pain already.  I was disappointed that I wouldn't be able to actually run the 5k with my girls, but very luckily, two of my other good friends and had signed up and were planning on walking!  So YAY!  Built in walking buddies!

Fawn, Takia, Christina and I all woke up at the butt crack of dawn, hopped into one car and headed down to Washington D.C. for the day as we were PUMPED to get to do our first Color Run...and do it together!  I was a little apprehensive at how well my back would hold up, because at 10 weeks pregnant, I had done a 5k (with my mom and daughter to help benefit Breast Cancer Research) two weekends before and I was in pain for about a week from it.

Here's a quick shot from that day!

Anyway...at 12 weeks pregnant and just peeking into my 2nd trimester after a very rough 1st trimester, I was ready to take on the challenge and have a BLAST while doing it!

L to R: Me, Christina, Takia, Fawn - Before the race

We arrived about an hour before race time, got to pick up our packets with our Color Run Tshirt, a packet of color powder to throw at someone at your convenience, 2 removable tattoos, your Color Run race number, a sweat band...how thoughtful!  We were ready!  :)

Our plan was to meet my two walking buddies around the start line.  We headed to the there only to find out that you couldn't get any where near it because  you had to wait in line through thousands of people to even see it!  It was insane!  We probably waited in line for about 40-50 minutes.  Met a very nice unicorn who offered to get his picture with us while we waited. :)

We also decided to snap a good bit of "before" shots since we were still nice and clean.

We finally arrived at the start line, I met up with my two walking buddies, Kat and Emily, and Fawn, Takia and Christina took off running and we agreed we would meet up at the finish line!

Here's a picture of Kat and I, before we got to any color

Kat, Emily and I after getting hit with a little orange

We tried to snap some pictures as we went along the course, but no one really wanted to take out our cell phones, because our hands were covered in colored powder and we didn't want to take the chance if it ruining our phones.

Each kilometer you run through you get sprayed with a different color (5 colors total).  By the end of the race, we looked like this:

It was SO MUCH FUN!  The only thing that was not fun to say the least was that my sciatica back pain was beyond throbbing and beyond painful.  I just wanted nothing but Tylenol, a bunch of water, something to eat, and to lay down.  It hurt so bad to get through that race and cross that finish line.  But I needed to.  I came that far, it was planned 5 months in advance, and I had nothing but support from my friends who were there with me!  Just as we came around the last turn and the finish line was in sight, I kicked up my pace and actually managed to jog across the finish line!  Despite my immense pain, I kept a smile on my face.  Fawn snapped a great picture of me as I finished!

Even though my head is half cut off, I still love this picture!

We all had a very busy, fun and personally rewarding day!  So glad I got to share it with some of the girls I love!  I can't wait to do it again and maybe next time with my family of four!  :)