Doin' the Mommy thing

This past weekend was full of being lazy, reading stories and baking with my girls. you heard me- baking. I am totally ok with the fact that I can cook, but am not so good at baking, but Emma has other plans for me. After a lot of begging from her, we decided to bake some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies on Saturday afternoon. I must have read the recipe 5 times before I even started; I wanted them to be perfect. So, we mixed butter, flicked flour at each other, and snuck bites of cookie dough...and somehow among all this chaos ended up with scrumptious cookies. I mean, really good cookies.

 



Our laziness stretched into Monday, as a broken washer (or whatever was wrong. who knows. its fixed now) is the perfect excuse to not do a darn thing all day. We played dress up, and as soon as I pulled my camera out, my girls went into push mommy's buttons mode. Lexi started saying owie whenever my camera is in her vicinity. Emma has resorted to bribing me to take good photos. Wait...I am the mom...shouldn't I decide when/where/if bribing will take place? She said "Mom, if you take me to Java Jungle everyday forever I will smile." I told you she is smart...and very good at getting what she wants. She smiled, and I compromised by telling her maybe grandma will take her :) Sorry, mom- I couldn't resist!

I don't have any new sessions to share, I have not been able to upload from my computer, so here are a few photos of my favorite thing (s) in the world.

Yep, you know it. My girls.

As of lately, this is the look I get while I am behind the camera.


oh, sweet Lexi Lynn




this is my current favorite of Emma.


she is getting braver...trying to run!

and this. This is perfect.

"Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother." -Lin Yutang

{Snail Mail}

Every morning at 11 am, I check the mail.

Every morning Emma asks me if she got any mail. She absolutely loves getting snail mail. My mom got her a subscription to Highlights, and she patiently waits every month for another issue. I love that she knows what mail is. In a world so full of technology, it’s nice to get a letter or post card via snail mail. There is something about taking the time to hand write a letter with a crisp piece of paper and a nice pen. Anyway, today Emma did get something! I have to brag a little bit…this girl is smart. She is barely 4, and she can recognize her name, and write and spell it. Sweet, right? So she got a letter today from Haab’s, a local restaurant we go eat sometimes. She entered a coloring page in a contest and SHE WON!! Ok, so every kid probably wins, but Emma doesn’t know that. SHE.WAS.THRILLED.

Her excitement:

I’ve said it before, and I will say it again. I LOVE fall. With every part of me. I even love the rainy days like today. The air just seems to smell a little crisper, and a little cleaner than the hot, humid weather summer brings. I am planning lots of fall activities for us. I can’t wait to take the girls to the apple orchard, and pick apples, eat donuts, and drink warm apple cider. My mouth is literally drooling just thinking about it. I remember picking out our own pumpkins when I was a kid. I have an old photo of my brother, sister, and I at an apple orchard. I may have been about 5 or 6. We were complete in our early 90's attire picking apples. Good memories :)

We don’t usually do dessert around here. Mainly because, if I do bake, it came out of a box. and we all know that's nothing like the real thing. I can make some pretty fabulous lasagna from scratch though! Tonight was an exception. We picked up some caramel apples at the grocery store, and tonight after cheese tortellini, we ate caramel apples like there was no tomorrow.


On to my latest session. These kids were great and full of life. I photographed them in Depot town, which has to be my favorite place to shoot. It’s got so many options and great backgrounds and lighting.

her eyes remind me of the ocean...


i love love using this faygo crate. it gives photos a nice vintage feel.


see what I mean about the great backgrounds?


adorable.


Thank you, Hollie for choosing me as your photographer!

{on a totally random note, my friend Kayleigh got me a bag of Dove chocolates for my birthday. I am lovin' the dove life lessons that came along with it!}

breakfast for dinner

After not getting much sleep last night, I woke up to find I had forgot to set my automatic timer on the coffee. Or even make it. So I made the coffee, while waiting I checked my email…waiting for the delicious smell of my morning drug to wake me up….after a few minutes I realized... Crap- I forgot to plug the coffee maker in. So, starting out my morning without coffee asap was surely going to set the precedent to an awful Monday. Luckily,  it didn’t start off so bad. I had to baby my oldest baby a little, she seems to be coming down with some kind of cold that makes her say, “ mommmmmy…my throat feels itchy. Mommmmy….my eyes are itchy. Mommmmy….can I go outside?” She feels sick enough to not pick up her toys (but can run outside for hours), but man…I would KILL for just an ounce of the energy she has, even on a ‘sick’ day. They are so amazing and wonderful. Kids, that is. I always thought I would be a ‘working’ mom, but I love being able to stay at home with my loves. It’s not that it isn’t work, because it is. It’s the best kind of work there is :)

I had a wedding reception to shoot this weekend, and it rained. A LOT. The couple got married a few weeks ago at the courthouse, and I photographed that as well. They are family of a really good friend of mine, Laura. it was a pleasant…and so many fun people at the reception! The bride, Tammy’s, dad was hilarious on the dance floor. I have never seen anyone dance the way he did, very entertaining ;) Congrats again Tammy and Rob!

 the dude could dance. seriously.

I couldn’t let today go without recognizing that is has been 2 months since my Grandma has passed away. It hits me in the oddest moments.  I think of her a lot when I cook dinner, she was always so curious to know what we had to eat. I usually would talk to her in the morning, or at night after the girls went to bed. The conversation was always normal chit chat, but it meant so much to me. And I know it meant a lot to her. She was never around my girls day to day, but she felt like she was a part of our life in some way. I miss her. People say time will make it better, but I am just missing her more every day.  

I can feel the end of the day coming, the girls are tired and so am I. They are getting clingy, and I am yearning for peace and quiet. I suppose I should start dinner, even though we had a late lunch. I’m thinking…breakfast for dinner. Delicious and Fun! 

Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs in my field, since the payment is pure love.  ~Mildred B. Vermont

{Normal Day}

"Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are.  Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart.  Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.  Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return." - Mary Jean iron

Months ago, one of my favorite bloggers linked this poem in her post. I often find myself caught up in the monotony of my 'normal' life, wishing for something exciting or adventurous to happen. I then think back to this poem. I remember that at some point in my life, perhaps when my girls are grown, I will think back to these days as the best of my life. Getting up and having coffee with my husband while my girls giggle and snuggle each other, perfect. Rainy days where we all want to cuddle, read and make up stories, perfect. I mean really, how can I complain about my heart being so full with laughter and snuggles and kisses and hugs. This is my normal day :)

On another note, I recently did a shoot with the sweetest little girl and her mother, Anne. I was pleasantly surprised to find that in their backyard they have a shed that is red and white, perfect background for photos. I had such a great time doing their shoot, and I hope to photograph little Clare many more times! 

 Really, how perfect is this?

 Clare was perfectly content laying on the blanket, letting the warm breeze flow across her tiny body

Look at these eyes...

I have been pretty partial to black and white lately, and this is the perfect photo for it! 

Thank you again, James and Anne for letting me take your sweet Clare's photos! 

and so, the summer ends.

Every year, it seems my birthday represents the summer coming to an end. Although the weather is still summer-like, the colors of the leaves and grass are beginning to show what is to come. Autumn has always been my absolute favorite time of year. I love the smell of the crisp, cool, air. I love warm apple cider and the smell that autumn brings along with it. And really, can you beat a warm cozy sweater and a cup of coffee in the morning? I think not!

Today is my birthday, I am 25. I am kinda digging the fact that my first blog post is on my birthday- the start of a new year. For me.

I am so excited to have somewhere to share my thoughts about my sessions and clients. I have been so blessed to have so many supportive people in my life since I began this photography adventure. Thank you to anyone who allowed me to record a little piece of your life with my camera- each and every one of you has helped me grow, not only as a photographer, but as a person.

I have about a million (ok, so that's a gross exaggeration) sessions to finish up. I will be posting all my sneak peeks, contests, and giveaways here from now on!

and here is a little sneak peek at my life...my girls are...well, there are really no words to describe how much they fill up my heart every single day.

Emma Elizabeth









Alexandria (Lexi) Lynn



"and in the end, its not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." -Abraham Lincoln

Welcome to my new blog!

I will be posting shortly.