I hope yours is a great one

We are enjoying our day of parades, rides, family time at home and later a cookout and fireworks These 3 images are from my sisters instagram (which I admit I wish I had!) and I thought I’d share them here real quick…

Kennedy and Bristol at the parade this morning…

Kennedy after getting a butterfly painted on her face, which she loves and is still asking every 5 minutes “It hasn’t washed off has it?”

Bristol feel sound asleep at her 2nd parade – poor girl was worn out!

Thanks Aunt Tressa for the pictures!

Thank you Stephanie for asking me to capture yor family, I loved having you all in front of my camera! And a huge thanks to Dixie Dreams for letting us use their gorgeous venue…I love shooting there! In fact, this is where the Summer Mini Shoots will be held

This little guy was on the run the whole time! He is adorable!

Thanks for looking. Have a happy and safe 4th of July!

So I am kinda in love with headbands for Tenley these days… I ordered a couple off Etsy and when I went to leave feedback I realized I had the option to include a picture, so you know, I couldn’t turn that down!

I love to see the pictures I’ve taken printed and framed (or on canvas – especially on canvas!) in my friends and clients homes, so I assumed that an Etsy seller might just feel the same way about seeing their work on a sweet little baby. So I attached one of Tenleys weekly pictures that I had taken and left feedback.

I got an email shortly after from the seller (Hey Sarah!) and I was right, she loved it, and I have since helped her out with a few more pictures… she makes gorgeous headbands, so be sure to click HERE and check out her shop!

Meanwhile, Here Tenley is modeling a couple that we got this week

Happy Friday!

Newborn. Simple, pure sweetness.

Meet Genevieve, also known as Evie…

Ahhh, isn’t she precious?!
This adorable hat was made by Monica

This gorgeous blanket was made by Evie’s MilMaw

Thanks for looking

This post was delayed today due to … life.

You know, a quick run to the bank, piles of laundry (that are still not done), a very messy house, a baby who eats often, two little girls who need my attention (because really, I have to come NOW to see what they made, or, they have to have a popsicle, like, 2 minutes ago!!) making dounuts, etc, etc. Let me elaborate on the dounuts.

My Mom gave me The Pioneer Womans newest cookbook for Mothers Day (thanks Mom!). Looking through it last week I noticed a recipe for dounuts, and honestly, had to wipe the drool off my shiny new cookbook. They just looked that amazing. So, I skimmed over the recipe, and decided that we had to make them. Yesterday, after eating lunch at my parents house, I got started, thinking it would be a yummy treat for the whole family.

Now, remember I said I ‘skimmed’ the recipe? I should have done a better job at it, because while I saw that they needed to rise 1 1/2-2 hours, I didn’t see that they had to rise two times, AFTER being in the fride for 8-10 hours! So, needless to say, we didn’t have dounuts last night, I brought the dough home and let it sit in my fridge overnight, then started on them again this morning. But, I am still waiting for them to rise a second time. And honestly, it isn’t looking to good…it is smelling good, but they just aren’t rising good. :(

Here is a picture I snapped using my phone of the girls making their own dounuts (and worms, and balls, and caterpillers and whatever else they came up with) using my leftover dough…

I really wish I had pulled out my ‘big’ camera and gotten some good shots. But, I had Tenley in the bathtub at that point

Now, changing subjects. You might have noticed that I mentioned we had our family pictures taken in Fridays post. Well, I am here to share a few of those with you now! For those of you who don’t know, I am the oldest in a family of 6 kids. Three boys and 3 girls. One sister is married with an adorable little girl. Another sister has a boyfriend. Two of my brothers have girlfriends and one has a dog. So, all in all, we are a big family! And this shoot was totally spur of the moment. I decided that we should all get together and get our pictures made for our Mom for Mothers Day. And somehow, we made it happen. No small thanks to Alicia, who fit us into her schedule and dealt with a lot of craziness that comes with large groups! She somehow managed to capture us, and make our Mom very happy Thank you Alicia!

I might also mention that I was very pregnant at the time of this shoot. I think I was 8+ months here… and to be completly honest with you, I had been told so often how good I looked and how I was “all baby” that I was really feeling pretty confident to step out in front of the camera. Even though I am much better on the ‘other side’ of the camera. So, when I got these images back from Alicia and looked at them for the first time with both my sisters on each side of me I did a double-take and a “are you kidding me?! is my stomach that huge in real life?! how can anyone tell me that I look so good?!”

But, while I do think I am literally huge in these pictures, I am also very happy to have them. Pregnancy only lasts 9 months, and while it feels like a long time while your going through it, you will soon forget a lot about it. So having pictures is a good way to remember

These are a few of my favorites (All images by Mona Alicia Photography)

Me, Stuart, Kennedy and Bristol…

Me and my 5 siblings…

The whole gang!

Just the 6 of us again…

My Dad built a playhouse for us girls when we were little, and this picture was taken on the front porch of it…

Honestly, I can’t believe Alicia even managed to get this shot. They did not sit still for 2 seconds! At one point, Bristol suddenly jumps up and says “I’ll be right back!” with a dramatic flourish of her hands! Haha!

Really? How did I expect to have anything less than a 9 pound, 6 ounce baby girl?!

Happy Monday!

This was a Mothers Day gift. These 5 siblings (3 are married, 2 of which have children) decided to all get together for a big ‘ol family photoshoot, all as a surprise for their Mom for Mothers Day. The best kind of gift in my opinion

Here are the 5 of them:

Yep, Andrew is a little out-numbered by his sisters

We got some shots of each of them separately…

And with their spouses….

Andrew, Megan and Harbor….

Matt, Paulette, Morgan, Ryan, Cameron (the cutie from earlier this week) and Ally…

Okay, I get it. I understand and know the importance of family pictures. My family and I recently had ours done, which I’ll have to post…but, that is beside the point. Getting back to the point… Honestly, while I undersatnd and agree that family pictures are totally worth having and so good to look back on, etc, etc. They bore me as a photographer. There. I said it. Probably shoudn’t have, but I did! Now, that is not to say that I don’t want to take your family pictures. Nope, not at all. But just be warned, once I get this shot: (the typical-you-can-see-every-one shot….)

I’ll probably get you moving and while you may not see everyone, while it may not be perfect, it is my idea of a ‘real’ family picture… I would end up choosing these next 3 over that first one anyday. And, be warned, I may laugh at you while you all run towards me and insist “go back! we have to do that again!”

Leah and Travis

Just the girls…

This last one was a joke for their Mom, since these two are the last living at home….

Thanks to all of you for a fun shoot, and for asking me to do these for you

I had this cutie thinking and scratching his head at first…

then I got a great smile out of him…

and then a good ‘ol belly laugh

love it!

Full post coming soon… I just had to share these real fast

I don’t want to live behind the camera, but I do want to capture our everyday life too… and sometimes finding a balance in doing so is not easy. Every once in a while I feel like I haven’t been too good at taking pictures of ordinary moments, and so I’ll bring out the camera and try to do just that. Which is what I did last week. Kennedy and Bristol were in their room playing and so I walked up to the door with my camera and started snapping away…at first they didn’t even notice me, and then when they did notice, they took advantage of the fact they could jump on the bed (while I just stood there taking pictures instead of reminding them – as I do daily – “no jumping on the bed!”) and acted silly. I love these ‘real’ moments, which are made even better by the fact these are taken in their room, because I know we’ll love looking back on them one day….

And for those of you who’ve asked “do they ever fight?” Oh yes! They do…. I really am amazed at how well they get along, and how much they take care of each other, but they do fight too. Of course, it wouldn’t be normal if they didn’t, right? :)

Lately, there has been a reoccurring argument that goes something like this:

driving down the road… Kennedy is amazed at the corn that is currently growing in the fields…and after the first time this happened, it is like Bristol just knows that it annoys Kennedy and so she disagrees all the more!

Kennedy: Mom, is that corn fields?

Me: Yep

Kennedy: Momma thats so cool! Corn is a vegetable, right?

Me: Yep, thats right.

Kennedy: Look Bristol! There is corn growing out there!

Bristol: No its not…thats gwass! (grass)

Kennedy: No, its corn.

Bristol: (yelling) NO ITS NOT! ITS GWASS! ITS GWASS SISSY!

Kennedy: (now also yelling) IT IS NOT! ITS CORN! Momma, Sissy said that is grass, and it is not, its corn!

Yep, it goes something like that till I make them both hush.

Oh, and every once in awhile Kennedy thinks it is hilarious to go running off with Bristol’s Minnie Mouse (whom she dearly loves) and the other day I had to rescue Minnie who Kennedy had thrown up on top of the fridge. Poor Bristol was trying to get a kitchen chair scooted over to reach her - as if she could!

Happy Monday everyone, and thanks for looking!

We had emailed back and forth planning this family shoot, Kate and I, and when we finally talked on the phone just a few minutes before we met I was surprised to hear her accent. Fred and Kate are from England, and really, I just loved hearing them talk! I felt that my english was not even close to proper after spending a little bit of time with them…

They have an adorable little girl named Violetta, and we had fun capturing them as they are today….

Thank you Kate….I loved having your family in front of my camera