Newborn photo shoot...

I am so stinking excited so I had to just come on here and post about it. My friend, and my visiting teacher, had her sweet little baby last week and she has invited me to come and take pictures of her new little one. Tomorrow is the day!! Wahoo! Amanda and her husband decided to wait to find out if they were having a boy or a girl and surprise! she had a baby girl. I can't wait to take pictures of this sweet little blessing. I'll have to post a picture for you all to see either tomorrow or Friday. Stay tuned...

Congratulations Jake & Amanda...

I've been wanting to post about this but wanted to wait until I did family pictures for my bff, Amanda. Amanda and her now hubby Jake were married last month. The whole thing was just spur of the moment and I couldn't be happier for them. Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend their wedding since everything happened so quickly. I talked to Amanda the night she found out that Jake wanted to go and get married in Vegas that exact same weekend and Jon and I had plans that we couldn't break plus noone to watch our kids while we went to Vegas. I was pretty bummed about that. That's ok though. I'm just so happy to see Amanda so happy. I honestly have never, ever seen her this happy. She has always been such a happy, positive person but Jake definitely adds to her happiness and life in general. Watching the two of them together...it makes me want to fall in love all over again {not saying that I don't love my hubby}. Congratulations Jake and Amanda! Also congratulations on your new family! Love you Manda!!

Happy Birthday, Jami!!

I wanted to do this post yesterday on Jami's actual birthday but well, we all know how life can get in the way at times. Anyway, I know it's not Jami's birthday anymore but I wanted to wish my best friend, my sister, the one I can turn to with anything and everything a very happy 26th birthday!! So with that said, HAPPY 26TH BIRTHDAY, JAMES!!! Jami is such an amazing, beautiful, genuine, strong woman. She has been such an example to me. This girl has been through so much but through it all, it has only made her even more strong than she was to begin with. Jami is such an incredible mother. Watching her with her little boy, Jackson, melts my heart. Jackson looks at her in this way that explains so much. She's expecting baby #2 and I know that she's going to continue to be that amazing mother that she already is. Jami, I want you to know that I love you with all of my heart. You are that other sister that I never had. People need to realize how truly blessed they are to have you walk into their lives. Yes, Jami, you are that amazing! One more time....HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAMI!!!










Not the best picture of us but this was taken the last time I saw her during one of her visits from Chicago.

Grateful Sunday #2...

This may sound odd to some people but today I would like to talk about how grateful I am for my camera. There is absolutely nothing like looking through the eyes of a lens and seeing so much more than what one normally sees. I have been able to capture some of the most beautiful, hilarious, caught in the act, precious photos of my children. Without my camera, I wouldn't have photos to look back on and vividly remember moments in my children's lives. I am grateful for the opportunity I have had to photograph other people's children and families. I have made many great friends through my work and this I'm also so grateful for. I finally found what you could say is my calling. If I'm stressed, give me a camera and it will calm me right down. For those of you that have allowed me to photograph your children and/or family, thank you so much for giving me that opportunity. You have no idea how much it has meant to me.

Wow, I look at these 2 pictures and think, "I'm so glad that I have started to build my lens collections. A kit lens just doesn't cut it!"

Life is a dance from one stage to the next...

Makayla is now a ballet student at UDA and is loving every opportunity she has to learn and grow. Last year, her dance experience was ok but she didn't learn nearly as much as she should have. We felt like we were paying for her to have a social hour rather than learning how to dance. Heck, she wasn't even taught the basic ballet positions. Makayla has 2 classical ballet classes a week and has 2 different teachers for each class. It's so fun to sit and watch her. Unfortunately we are only able to view her class at the beginning of each month due to the studio we are in but that's ok. She learns a lot more, and pays more attention, when Mom isn't sitting there. Last night I sat and took pictures since I had the opportunity to do so.






She's concentrating awfully hard.



I love that her teacher takes the time to teach the girls (and boy) the proper way to do things.

This last picture is my absolute favorite. I look at the other girls in the photo and then at Makayla and think to myself, "Boy, she really has a passion for dance." She really is turning into such a beautiful dancer.

And now a little letter to my little ballerina...

Makayla, we are so proud of you and how much you have grown in dancing in such a short while. You are a beautiful dancer and you have passion written all over your face. Keep up the great work! We can't wait to see what else you learn and want to show off throughout the remainder of this dance year. We're looking forward to your year end recital where all may be able to see all that you have accomplished. Keep reaching for the stars, Kayla. We love you so much!!

Happy Halloween...

October 30th we spent the evening carving pumpkins. We bought one of those pumpkin carving kits and of course the kids pumpkins turned out wonderfully and mine and Jon's, not so much. My "boo" caved in and my pumpkin ended up looking like a pumpkin with a giant hole in it. Go figure! Here are our kiddos hard at work.








Haylee spent the pumpkin carving time sitting on top of the table. She took advantage of this because it's not very often that she's able to sit on top of the table.

Halloween -- October 31, 2009
My very own Cinderella and Snow White.

Arrrr Mateys!

My sweet bug. She saw me putting makeup on Skyler and wanted some on her so she ended up with a dot on her nose.

My children before heading out to trick-or-treat while Mom stayed home and took a much needed nap after a long day of pain. For your information (er ah, LLOYD), Jon is NOT a car jacker! Ha ha! That would be part of his Zorro costume.

Trick-or-treat at the neighbors.

And here is their loot once coming home. Yes, my children made out like bandits! We have plenty and I'm not planning on keeping it all so if you want some, come get some now! =)


I hope you all had a safe, happy Halloween!!

Pumpkin patch...

On October 29th we finally had the opportunity to take our kids to the pumpkin patch over on 90th south. We didn't stay very long because I wasn't feeling very well and it was so darn cold and the wind wasn't helping. I did manage to get a few pictures in though.

For the record...Skyler actually let me take his picture without pulling an annoyed or silly face! Hooray!!


Awww my 3 princesses


Helping daddy push the wheelbarrow full of our family's pumpkins.

Awww this picture is sad but so funny to me at the same time. I have a picture of Haylee sitting in the wheelbarrow atop all of our pumpkins from last year. She isn't screaming in the picture from last year and I wanted to attempt to get a similar picture this year. As you can see, that was NOT going to happen. She did not like that idea at all!



And finally...a very cute picture of all FOUR of my beautiful children.