Spring Pictures!

I hosted my first mini-photography-sessions on March 16th and 17th. I had 16 children participate, which was wayyyyy  to many looking back! I also did not realize how much time I was going to need to edit the pictures. I ended up taking over 1,500 pictures! Obviously I did not edit anywhere close to that figure. Here are some of my favorites (I'll add more latter -- I only have on SD card with me right now).

10 Obsessions

It has been a while since I’ve posted about random topics, most of my post as of late have been catching up on events in my life. So here are a list of my current top 10 obsessions (some of which are new obsessions others are old ones that have just been revived).

1.    Low Carb Strawberry Cheesecake. After I finished writing a paper on Sunday I decided to reward myself with something delicious, instead of driving to the closest Dairy Queen I decided that I would make a cheesecake so I could enjoy it for several days. I have basically ate nothing but Cheesecake since Sunday. I made it with splenda and almond meal crust, so I really don’t feel that guilty about it!

2.  Gelish nail polish. This is a revived obsession, unfortunately I just don’t have enough time to get manicures on the regular! I made time to get one for my birthday 3 weeks ago and my nails still look great (no damaging acrylic either!).

3.  Yoga and Heavy Bag Training (translation: punching bag madness). I found a DVD at Target a while back that had several beginner yoga routines, one of which was a night time wind down routine. I have been doing it in the evenings off and on for the past 2 weeks and I think it honestly has helped me sleep better. I also received a punching bag and gloves for my birthday that we hung out in Drew’s shop. It really is a lot of fun especially after I took the time to do some research and  figured out what I should be doing, plus it’s a really fast workout!

4.  Summer time. Daylight savings time has arrived which means that warmer weather is right around the corner. No additional explanation required.

5.  Urban Decay De-Slick. This was also a birthday present and is a great product (I haven’t used it prior to getting it for my bday). After I put my face on in the mornings I lightly mist this over my face and it helps my foundation stay put all day. I’m not sure about the cost but its available at Sephora and Ulta. 

6.  Iced Coffee. Man that stuff is good! This is also a revived obsession since it hasn’t been as cold outside as of late.

7. Springtime flowers and plants. I made a trip to Home Depot this past weekend and bought all the flowers and plants I needed to replant my big planters for the gate and my pots on the porch. This year I am determined to make sure they survive through the entire summer! (Or at least longer than they did last year!).

 8. Ebay. I don’t normally shop on ebay (not like I do on Amazon at least) but since I downloaded an app on my phone I have been doing some serious stalking of a whole array of different items. I also enjoy finding strange and unusual items on ebay and just watching to see how much they sell for which has only reinforced my belief that there are more crazy people in this world than sane. 

9. Photography. I am getting excited about doing me first round of spring mini-sessions this weekend. Will post pictures next week (hopefully). 

10. Downton Abbey. This is a show that comes on BBC America about a family in England based in pre-WWI era. It’s a drama that claims to be historically accurate about the period. My favorite character just died and I’m not too happy about that, hopefully I will stick with it though. I find myself talking with a British accent and wishing I had a house fully of maids, butlers and cooks after I watch the episodes! Drew has yet to respond to my bell ringing…….. rude. 

Photo Updates

We have had (mostly) remarkable weather for this time of the year these past 2 weeks or so and have even ventured into the 80 degree realm on a day or two! Yessssss! I for one think it should be 90 and sunny year round but very few others share this sentiment with me. Anyway, on to the pictures... I was able to get together with Catherine and Amanda on Tuesday evening of last week to take pictures of their sweet daughters. Both Savanna and Emma decided that they were going to be serious models for the shoot though! We managed to get one smile out of each, but we sounded like a group of idiots in the process! "Are you going to smile for us? Awww smile for us! Smile for mama! Be a sweet girl! Sssmmmiiilllleeeeee!" 

 I also took pictures of my nephew on Saturday because he is 18 months old now! Wowza! I have been taking his pictures for a little over a year now at different milestones and it is so neat to look back on the pictures and see how much he has changed in such a short period of time. 

Here are a few of my favorites: 

Savanna (3 months old)
(This was actually the first one I took of her on Tuesday so I thought this was going to be an session and we would get lots of smiles!)

But boy were we wrong! She stuck her tongue out at us and that was it for facial expressions for the day! How cute was this though?!

Most of the pictures looked more like this though:

She is adorable either way! We are hoping for a better performance when she turns 6 months old! :)

Savanna is the baby that was cooking during these pictures: Catherine and Lee

Emma - 4 Months Old

She was such a little doll; this was kind of a smile, right?!

 

Here are her proud parents, Robert and Amanda. (Still no smile from Emma!) 

Lastly, here are 18 month pictures 

We had no issues getting laughs or smiles out of this guy though! 

Again, all smiles! 

This was my favorite picture we took that day! 

Brigham's Pictures

I meant to post these pictures last week but got sidetracked as usual. Courtney brought Brigham to the house 2 weekends ago so that i could take a few 3 month pictures for her. He is getting sooooo big and the weather was great (warm enough for gnats to harass us!). Here are a few of my favorite pictures:

Sitting up like a big boy! 

Enjoying some sugar from his mommy.

Happy that the pictures are almost over :)

Catherine & Lee Lewis

Sunday evening I drove down to he river and met Catherine and Lee to take maternity pictures. Fortunately it was nice and cool out but a little too breezy! Catherine is expecting to deliver in a week! This is the first child for this fun loving couple. Here are a few of my favorite pictures:

Baby Brigham!

On Sunday I was fortunate enough to get to spend some time with baby Brigham and his parents. He is such a sweet boy and was a real trooper during his pictures! I visited Brigham at the hospital the day after he was born and in the week between that time and the time until we coordinated to take the pictures he had changed so much already! Here are a few of my favorite pictures:

Such a good looking little fella!

Kackleberry Farms

This morning I met Kim and Parker at Kackleberry Farm. This was my first trip to Kackleberry Farm, but Parker and Kim were seasoned professionals. Parker was still a little too young for some of the attractions but by the time we left we were all covered in sweat! I was disappointed in the pumpkin patch though I was thinking they grew their own pumpkins and had a huge field full of them (which would have worked out for some awesome picture moments!) but it was just an over grown field with a few pumpkins they purchased and placed around. Here are some of the highlights and a few of Parker's favorite attractions!

Getting excited about the bunnies!

Tetherball was a hit! (literally). 

Tractor seesaw!

Jumping on the giant air-filled pillow! 

 

I think this was his favorite activity.

Productive Saturday

Last night I ventured up to Drew's man-room to take a look around to see if there was anything he needed for his birthday. Unfortunately it was in such disarray that I couldn't imagine adding anything else to this clutter. So when Drew left this morning for work I took it upon myself to do a little organizing. I'm pretty satisfied with the results but I'm not too confident it will stay like this for long! ... Fingers crossed!

Before:

After! 

Parker came for a visit this afternoon and we quickly moved through a few fun activities!

Played on the hay...

Caught and ate bubbles!

Then we got a hold of the water hose!

Drinking from the hose; such a little man now!

Watered the flowers for Aunt Bean.

Bucket-o-water

After stripping himself naked he returned to the bucket for the next 30 minutes or so until 

we had to go eat dinner! 

--Looking forward to a lazy Sunday. 1st week of the outage officially down. 3-4 more to go.. :(

Courtney's Maternity Pictures

On Saturday afternoon our friends Courtney and Bobby came to the house so that I could take maternity pictures before Brigham arrives! Courtney is due in just a couple of weeks! It had stopped raining and the sun came out just a few minutes before they arrived (so you can imagine how muggy it was outside!). They were both good sports about the weather and we had a lot of fun taking the pictures. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from Saturday:

We are looking forward to meeting Brigham very soon! Courtney also asked me to come to the hospital and take his newborn pictures when he gets here! So excited!

Parker and the Beach

We took Parker down to Tybee Island for a few hours on Friday for his first beach trip! He was cautious about the water at first but by the time we were ready to leave he was really enjoying himself. He also was a fan of all the pretty girls that were around! Even offering up his sippy cup to a bikini-clad high school gal!

Oh my gosh! The BEACH!!

 

JUMP!

Being silly with Mommy!

Enjoying his strawberry ice cream!

Sharing his ice cream with his 3rd cousin Max (visiting from NY!).

Quick beach trip for Parker = Success!