Family Tradition!

Tradition in our family means hiking into the mountains of a tree farm and picking out and cutting down the perfect tree. This isn't a quick trip, you plan a day around it. With my Gorgeous Momma we end up hiking half of PA to find the perfect tree. Seriously. I remember when I was a kid I thought this took days. I mean, she would find this tree that was "good." She would mark it with one of her gloves and with one warm hand she would set off to find a "great" tree. Once she found a "great" tree she would mark that and set off with two cold hands and search of the PERFECT tree. Sometimes, she would find the perfect tree. Other times, she would circle back to the Good tree, pick up her glove and then make her way back to the Great tree and claim it was perfect all along. {Sorry Momma, but you know it is true!} I remember her saying that the tree was crooked or had too many bare spots. However, as I've gotten older I've noticed that it doesn't seem to take as long. It doesn't feel as painful. In fact, it doesn't even hurt a little bit. It feels great. I look forward to spending an afternoon with my Mom and family and heading out in search of the perfect tree. I love bringing it home and putting it up. Spending the night with Christmas carols on and staying up late decorating it to perfection. In fact, it's my favorite tradition. I am SO happy that this is also a tradition that Joey enjoys too. This year, even Buddha got into it! :) So, here is a picture of the little family in front of our tree before we cut it down and all the steps in between it's completion! 

 Love this green eyed boy. 

Momma, Thanks for being you and for providing us all with awesome family traditions and making sure that they are carried out every year... I love you. 

Game time--Huuh!

Last Sunday was one for the books. Jason and I FINALLY had the chance to get together with Lauren and Ben! Sometimes it just seems so crazy that after a year of, "We have to get together" and "Oh that would be so much fun." We finally made it happen. Of course, after the build up of a years worth of planing we couldn't just go grab a coffee or a bite to eat. We did it big! We all piled in and headed down to the Steelers game. SO much fun! Not bad for the first official double date! I love how much Lauren and Ben are like Jason and I. I love the fact that they have the same blissful happiness with their daughter as Jason and I have with our son. I love that that happiness also comes along with the stressful worries of being a parent. It's nice to have friends that lead a lifestyle so similar to Jason and I. :) Thanks for an awesome 1st double date guys! Can't wait to spend some more time with you guys and with Livvy!! 

She's got a baby inside!

The Colbie Caillat song, Capri is just so beautiful. It's so simple and sweet and a little bit addicting. {I've had it one replay almost the entire time I've edited this session.}  I know, I know. I am a total sap for all humans that are tied to my Grandmother and Grandfather. Let's face it. We got hooked up in the DNA department. I'm not shy, I'm not embarrassed and I'm certainly not conceded. I'm just honest. We have good genes. However, once you see how gorgeous my cousin looks in these maternity photographs, you would have known that to be fact without me boasting. I've said it before, anytime someone in this family gets engaged or married, has a baby, has a health scare {or anything in between} we all become a little bit gushie and emotional. Maybe...I say we all become emotional because I become emotional and maybe I like to think that the rest of the Wirth descendent's woman are with me. Regardless, I couldn't help getting a little teary eyed over my cousin giving us the news via hand written letter at our annual vacation spot. I couldn't help getting teary over finding out she was having a girl!!! Yes! So, I certainly lost a few tears over editing this session. Why? I just simply love Elizabeth. Seeing her SO happy and the twinkle in her eye when she talks about her baby girl and the way that her wonderful hubbers looks at her, doesn't it just get you? Right in the ticker? I have memories that go so far back with my cousins that I can't even remember them all perfectly. Countless vacations, family parties, the "kid table" jokes{that I told, that were NEVER funny...} the gags we pulled with Uncle Bill and the jet ski rides with my Dad.... I pray that my son can have a bond with this little girl and that they can cherish memories like the ones that I so cherish with Elizabeth. These lyrics remind me so much of Elizabeth and her daughter... "And oh when she'll open her eyes, There'll be no surprise- That she'll grow to be So beautifully- Just like her mother That's carrying."  Hope you enjoy the pictures cousin! xo

Fully aware of the serious slacking going on here. Started a new job, trying to get used to having to have myself and Joseph out the door by 8:10am. Sounds easier than it is, really!!!! However, excuses aside...I have been super busy trying to get some Christmas decorating done, execute the holiday traditions perfectly and keep my photography up to par. So, here you will find me scrambling to blog for the next week or two because next week means company galore and big fun approaching! :) Here's what we've been up to.....

 Here is the face that let's him get away with virtually, everything. 

Showered in babylove!

On family vacation this year my cousin Elizabeth and her husband Kevin had to skip because they had a family wedding. I remember pouting when I found out Elizabeth wouldn't be coming and being bummed about it on the drive to the beach. However, that evening when Jason and I finally arrived to the beach house in the Outer Banks we all sat down to eat pasta and drink wine. My Aunt Sue (E's Mom) slipped away from the table for a few minutes. When she came back she had this sneaky little look in her eye. Like she was trying not to cry but knew that it was a lost cause because as she began to speak her voice was already cracking. She pulled out a letter from Elizabeth and read aloud. The extent of the letter was that Elizabeth was preggo! In our family, simply put-- tears of joy all around the table! Elizabeth closed the letter with something along the lines of "Hopefully next summer Kevin and I will be bringing the littlest beach bum to the Outer Banks for family vacation!" Is it weird I am tearing up just reminiscing about finding out that my cousin is having a baby? I tell ya, we are a happy go lucky bunch that gets teary eyed at the happy and strong and determined at the sad. I can't express how excited I am for Elizabeth and Kevin. I figured since tomorrow is their Maternity session, I had better post baby shower pictures first! Now, part of this weeks mission is to dissect my photographs and determine what they are worth to me. These photographs aren't worth money, they aren't great works of art. They aren't my best and craftiest work. However, they are something that I know I will get to show my cousins daughter{did I mention that she is having a girl! yesssss! take that boy cousins, Elizabeth brings us girls back into the ball park of balancing the girl/boy ratio that we have been fighting since we were kids!} all of the photographs of the shower that was planned to help welcome her into the world. I will get to snuggle up with this little baby girl and think back to the shower day when so many people gathered to join in the celebration and joy of Kevin and Elizabeth. I hope that I can also share with baby girl the story of her Grandma reading a letter and how many teary eyed ladies there were in dining room of a big huge beach house in Corolla. My cousin has always been someone that I looked up to and seeing her so incredibly happy makes my heart happy. I'm SO happy for you Elizabeth! Love you! 

 Oakmont Bakery....yessss please! 

 Sometimes, I have to pinch myself. My Aunts and Momma are so creative. Check this out. baby foot sugar cookies....

 Floral design, simple. elegant and Gorgeous! Not to mention, my Grandmother had 5 daughters. Apparently, when the 5th daughter was born my Grandpa brought my Grandma pink roses to the hospital to say, "Thanks for Daughter number 5!" Then, Jason brought me Pink roses when Joey was born. Might go against the having a daughter thing, but still meant the world to me that Jason remembered me telling him that my Grandpa did this for my Gram! 

 Clothes line with little girl outfits!

 Just missing Anna Banana here! 

 WHO GAVE MY MOM THIS BABY? She's going to catch the baby fever! Oh no... look at her face. Think she already caught it!

 Proud Papa! 

 How Gorgeous is my cousin? :)

A picture is worth...

Renee and I had planned to take part in Help Portrait this year. We were so excited about it and had this great plan to partake in the DC event. Of course, being such a close family and sharing so much...we shared germs! Joey shared the germs with Jason, who shared them with me. Then, this Auntie shared germs with the rest of the crew. The worst part is that I got my sweet baby nephew sick too. Talk about the germs that keep on giving. Just as we were all getting well, there was another round of germs to share. Ugh! Hellllllooooo Winter! Long story short, we never made the event. Instead we snuggled up with dayquil and kleenex! The Help Portrait event is an event based on giving someone a photograph. Not to build your portfolio but to give someone that wouldn't otherwise be able to have a professional photograph taken a gift of photography. The slogans of the event are "A Picture is Worth..." & "A Picture is hope." This got me thinking. What is a picture worth to me? It's my income. So that alone is worth something. It's worth braving the cold or the heat to get a great shot. It's worth...a lot. But really, what if the last photograph I had of my son was the one that the hospital takes when babies are born? Or what if our last family photograph was 10 years ago and we couldn't afford to capture the day to day or holiday or milestone? For me, I would be heartbroken. Yes, I know there are more important things in life than pictures but they are easily taken for granted. {Last year when our neighbors had a house fire and the fire chief knocked on my door and said, "get the three most important things and get out" I practically kicked my son out the door and went for my camera, Joey's baby book and a box of old prints.} This holiday season, I know I will take hundreds of photographs but they all mean something to me. In the spirit of Help Portrait I decided to take a look at my family photographs for the next week and really dissect what they mean to me. Focus on what they are worth. So after a quick 30 minute{yes, that's quick. I could drag our sessions out for hours!} holiday family session with my boys, Joey was a bit restless from all the cheesin. Knowing that he would be a ball of crazy energy after this I decided to have a game plan for when we got home. So we set up this canvas aka white flat sheet and laid a drop cloth. We grabbed containers of {WASHABLE} paint and went to work. Of course there was more to this plan than to paint a little greeting and clean it up. Jason and I had aplan of AtTaCk!! We were going to surprise Joey with a giant paint fight!! After we painted and had our greeting complete, Jason and I started the countdown. 3, 2, 1!! Attack! We got Joey so good! We each slapped one of his cheeks with our paint brushes and the look on his face...priceless. I really don't have words to describe it! He was so totally shocked and completely dumbfounded that his ol' parents would do something like this at 8pm. His face said so much! After a giant paint fight that ended with an amazing family memory and paint in our eyes and ears we had a really cool mural hanging in the basement. Best part of the plan? Having my little sister around to photograph the entire thing! :) Capturing the look on Joey's face-- well I guess I don't need words to describe it because this picture is worth a thousand words! It's worth so much to me! I might not have the words to describe the event to my Grandmother in California but she will know exactly how it felt to be there from the series of photographs. What is your family photograph worth to you?

 Sneaky parents! 

 Here's the LOOK! 

 Oopps... paint in Joey's ear!

 Finished product!

 Bu Bu even wanted in on it!!!