Learning to Breathe: What a good-looking family

"What a good-looking family," says my photographer, my dear friend Laura. I knew the pictures would be amazing because Laura is an amazing photographer. She said it over and over again. I'm thinking, "She is such a sweet friend," because in my mind, she is saying it to be kind, not because it is true.

How many times do we do that? Women especially do this. We hear good things said about us and think, "Aw, isn't she or he king?" And we smile and say "thank you" while internally not taking it as truth. Oh! But let someone say something bad about us, and our brains immediately wonder, "They're right!"But I want to stop those mind patterns. I want to take compliments and tell my brain, "That's right. You are amazing!" And I definitely do not want to believe the negative comments from random people who do not matter in my life.

Women are so constantly comparing themselves to this curated instagram world of what good-looking is. More and more plastic surgery is the norm. Period pieces on TV look inauthentic because everyone has the modern plastic pulled-away face. It is even becoming normal for men. We don't even have expensive makeup on. We had just come back from a beach trip, so we are naturally tanned and a little exhausted in these pics. Yet, the more I see them, the more I love my photographer's words. "What a good-looking family you are!" Yes, indeed, we are.

And so, even with my double-mastectomy chest and my mommy belly, I feel proud to be as beautiful as I can and more because of the beautiful people that surround me. I sure hope to teach my girls true beauty, and it doesn't only come from within. It is external with the love you give yourself and the beliefs you hold about yourself.

And what a good-looking family we are. Here is the proof. (Also proof of how an amazing photographer Laura is!)

It had been 7 years since the last time these two could come together to visit. Now, they are expecting their first baby!

I wasn't able to write about my brother's tumor because I wanted to respect his privacy. It was a very difficult time for our family finding out that he had a benign brain tumor that was pressing against his hypothalamus. He spent 45 days in the hospital recovering. He has great God-stories to tell now about that time that I am sure he will be glad to share with you. So proud of the husband and wife they are and can't wait to see the mom and dad they'll be.

This picture in this plaza is just a reminder of how far God has taken us. Isn't my mom the most gorgeous?!

Oh, my amazing family.

These two women fought day and night to keep this man alive. They are his heroes and mine!

My girls with their tio and tia.

What would this shoot be without my brother being silly? That is the best part of having him around! The girls had longed for this.

At one point last year, I didn't know if I would get to see my brother alive again. The fact that I got to hold him and see his face again is a pure miracle.

I thank God for that good-looking man I get to call husband, and my girls call dad.

The last professional photoshoot I had done was in my 31st birthday were I was wearing a wig and had painted eyebrows done by my sister. I was wearing a bra still with one side filled with a sock. I only posted pics of my daughters from that photoshoot here.