Darling Dowlings!

My son has recently been coming home from school talking non stop about Alex D. First, it was "I sit by Alex D." Then, after they switched seats it was, "Alex D. and I were doing this climbing thing at recess..." or "Alex D. and I were in the library..." the list goes on and on! Joey seems to adore Alex D. and I was SO excited when his Momma wanted me to do a session for Alex and his little sister Elizabeth! These are quite possibly the most polite and the sweetest kiddos I've ever met. They both used Thank You with me more in a hour and half than my own {littlestinker} has all week! ha! Honestly though, I'm so grateful that I had the chance to do this session. Alex was practically a pro at his poses and even said, "Hey, this would be a good place for a picture" when we passed a giant rock! His kid sister followed suit and posed herself so naturally too! Not to mention that this big brother is so sweet to his little sis, it's heart warming! Alexis, thank you so much for bringing your amazing kiddos to hang out yesterday! Many more pictures to come! 

Doll Face!

Okay, I'm doomed. Officially. After a day like today when I get to photograph a beautiful little lady who is dressed to the nines and then my brute of a child gets off the bus with a black eye from recess that worries me sick and he deems "an awesome battle wound" I've decided that SOMEDAY there just must be a little girl in my future! Miss Teagan was so adorable today! After my first attempt at her 2 year old session, I was determined to capture this chickadee! First, let me say that she dresses far better than I do. Second, she's got eyelashes that I would love to have. I mentioned she is TWO right? Not to mention, her shoes and sunglasses are always perfectly matched to her cute little outfits! I'm so glad I got to photograph her and that this Two Re-Do session went much better than our first attempt. {In our defense, it was cold on the last day and today we had blue skies and sunshine!} I think Miss T even likes me now! Not only did I get smiles out of her, I got giggles! Perfect little girl giggles! :) Not to mention, she has the sweetest little doll face. Like a perfect little baby doll! So, between yesterday's post of little Miss K and today's post of little Miss T, I might have a fever for dressing up a little girl and buying sparkle shoes! I might just have to go get myself a babydoll...of the plastic variety to dress up for now... ha!
Check out Miss T!

Little Miss K

 

So glad I got to photograph this little Diva! She rocked sunglasses for half of the shoot and only gave up

her sunglasses for the fair trade of a lolly pop that I had in my camera bag! She was too cute in her little chuck taylors and pigtails! {almost makes me want a little girl... what? Who said that?!} We also got some cute shots of her playing with her Momma! Check out this little princess!  

Normal--Business as Usual!

I'm not sure if I've said this before, but my Momma is a heaven sent. My whole family is really. This weekend has been one straight outta the "SUCKS TO BE YOU" handbook and I swear, if I needed something to work, chances are it broke. For instance, my laundry was piled to Timbuktu and as I have one load in the washer the dryer dies. Another example would be that I took the advice of a total stranger and sprinkled arm&hammer Pet Fresh ALL over my house {which you can do before you vacuum and the fresh sent sticks around but the dirt doesn't} only to plug in my practically brand new vacuum cleaner for it to have some sort of electrical failure. Seriously? What am I supposed to do with all this white powder ALL over my house? With a puppy that thinks it's free food! Luckily, while I was at my Momma's house doing laundry Jason's dad came over and fixed our dryer. Thank God. The dryer is not very old either! Jason's dad is always saving us by fixing something for us. This week it was the dryer, last week it was something for one of the vehicles. We are so lucky! Then, Jason managed to fix the vacuum while I was out and vacuumed the house before I got home.  Sometimes, I think things have to get stressful so that you can appreciate the times that things are normal, business as usual type of days. Because, really what is normal? My normal day is where nothing breaks and I work, walk the dog, edit, pay bills, run to sports and tuck my son in is far from my neighbors normal. All I know is that my "normal" is perfect and if we can just stick to the normal day to day, I'm okay with that. Somehow, this weekend that felt like it was going to crush me, turned out to be just fine. Thanks to the best family in the world! Don't get me wrong, I would be just fine appreciating the day to day without the madness that ensued this weekend but I'll take whatever I can get. Here are some pictures of Joey, my mom and myself ice skating. How many 6 year old boys can say that their Grandma is a great ice skater? She used to do tricks on the ice when I was little...Grandma...We are still waiting to see some of those tricks!!! 

The benefit to reproducing at the age that I did is that you get a Grandma who can still hang! ha!

Rambling!

Fall is my ultimate favorite time of year. From the changing colors to the smell of the air and chunky sweaters, I adore everything about it. There's this feeling of excitement because the holidays are around the corner and there is a almost always something yummy baking at our home. This fall hasn't been any different from the previous ones in many ways. However, the excitement of Christmas is even greater this year. My sister Anna comes home on the 22nd which means an amazing amount of fun. Christmas portraits are in full swing and that means the creative juices are flowing. I have holiday crafts planned with Joey and Christmas shopping and traveling on my mind. Best of all, we get to share this Christmas with the littlest member of our family, baby John Michael. There is something about a babies first Christmas that gets me. A fresh little baby to celebrate Christmas, or any child for that matter really reminds me of the Promise that God has given us. An innocent little baby on Christmas is a reminder that baby Jesus was born so that our sins could be forgiven and that the day should be celebrated as such. It's not about the fancy toys or the presents, it's about the promise and the hope that Jesus holds. This Christmas season we are so thankful for all of our blessings. Especially the tiny, innocent child and baby blessings that we have in our Joey and our Junior. Something about these two little boys gets me all choked up and teary eyed because I can't believe how incredibly blessed we are to have them. It's so incredible how quickly they grow and change and I've been trying to focus on making every second count with Joey because I know that before I know it he will be off to college, then married, with a baby of his own that I can get all sappy with on Christmas morning! So, back to Fall. Right! I took Joey out into the woods for a hike and Canon tagged along. We got some awesome fall pictures of Joey and when I developed them I noticed that they were strangely familiar. I dug out some old pictures of Joey and figured out why. Seriously, how did he get SO big? Here is to trying to get life to slow down and remembering to take the time to stop and snuggle up for a good book or bundle up for a hike in the woods because we can't take the fancy toy to heaven with us but the memories belong to us! {and to think they called Jason "the Rambler in high school...}

better than I thought

 Have you ever just been in a funk? I mean, for more than a day. Weeks maybe. Lately I haven't been able to get out of my current funk. I've recently had a good amount of changes take place in my life, I've lost a few friends in the process and I've been dealing with being unemployed in an already {for lack of a better word} shitty economy, a son who's attitude is worse than it ever was in the terrible twos, missing my sisters like crazy-- there's never been a time when the three of us have been apart so long and that kills me. So today, I woke up at noon because I have this horrific flu-virus and due to my current situation, I don't have heath insurance so between NyQuil and gingerale, I am self medicating. It's been one of those months that I swear, something has got to give. Luckily for me, I have my camera. Sometimes I swear I would be lost without it. "Canon" {who will someday have a better name, and yes, I am taking suggestions} gives me this creative outlet and this way to express myself in any mood. Last weekend I did maternity pictures for my friend Krissy. She was expecting her baby any day (little man was born today!) and I wanted to make sure we captured her maternal glow! Success! I was so excited about this shoot for two reasons, I would get to see Krissy AND because her wonderful husband, Joel serves as a U.S Marine. Krissy told me at the shoot that Joel wouldn't be there for the babies scheduled C-section because he had to go to training and that he would only be with her and the baby for a few weeks before he was deployed for a year. My heart was just burning for them. These two are SO in love and my heart just broke for Joel and for Krissy that she wouldn't have her husband there for her and for the baby for a year. For the first year. Joel is one of those husbands that is so attentive to his wife. He would be looking at her when he was supposed to be looking at me. He didn't just look at her though, he lovingly gazed at her. There is not doubt that the situation is hard for them, but they have a mutual strength when they talk about it. All of this got me thinking about how I have been sad, pathetically sad about the fact that I haven't seen my sister in over a year. I've been sad about a few things but none of my things even compare. Joel and Krissy, you are both in my prayers every night. I'm thankful for Joel and for Krissy because they are both sacrificing this year to make sure that this country continues to be a safe place for their new son and for my son. I'm thankful that they are both so strong and that they have each other. I'm going to concentrate more on being thankful for what I have than being sad about what I don't have. Thanks for your service Joel. Here's a little sneak peak!