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

Driving down the road the other day Kennedy yells “Hey look! (pointing to the sky, where she can see the clouds moving) God is carrying the clouds around up there!”

Ah, from the mouth of babes….

Here she is holding her baby sister…

And here are all three of my girlies together
(Kennedy, Bristol and Tenley)

Bristol …. love the light we had in these!

Kennedy and Bristol, just being silly

Happy Monday

My friend Julie had her second baby boy back in March, and he is simply precious!

When I went to see them in the hospital I took my camera along so I could get a few quick shots. Now that I have my own kids I have come to know just how special those hospital pictures are. I love looking back at the first pictures and remembering the feelings and those sweet first moments…

Meet Liam Baxter:

We got a few with Mommy and big brother Emerson…

and a couple of just Emerson too

Julie… you have two adorable boys… thanks for always trusting me to capture them XoXo

In a way, I feel like I have watched this little guy grow up in front of my camera (and I love that!) The first time I took his pictures he was a tiny little newborn, and I have since captured him at many different stages in his 2 years… he is now a handsome 2 year old who can use a ball and bat like you’ve never seen before! (I am not even kidding you – we got a few pictures of course )

check out that face in the picture to the right; such a serious expression!

Okay, I am totally in love with these three

Now here he is doing what he loves best… playing ball.
Seriously, I was so impressed. This kid didn’t miss a single ball! He really is talented. His Mom said he goes out every morning – by himself – and hits his ball and runs the ‘bases’ over and over again.

Thank you Sol, for always being a sweetheart 

Today, our baby girl is one month old. And well, I just have to say it…. how did one month go by so fast?! Already, our sweet girl is changing and growing so much. I am taking her picture every week, for the first year, and here is a shot each week thus far

In case you are wondering about the picture a week for a year… before I even had kids I said I’d take a picture every day for a year just so I could look back and see them change in the pictures. Well, I had my first, Kennedy, and realized that every day was a bit much (I never even tried!) but instead felt like once a week was good enough. I make sure to get at least one good picture every week and then I create a book with the pictures – one picture on each page, 52 pages (53 counting the day she was born) after those frist 53 pages I include a lot of pages of random pictures throughout the first year. Now might be a good time to admit that I have created a book for Kennedy, but still haven’t gotten around to doing Bristols! I have the pictures though, and that is what counts! And I will make her book, it just hasn’t happened yet

Now here is Tenley, the day she was born:

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Amazing how much she has changed in one month!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend… and next week, I plan to get back to blogging shoots I did before I had Tenley.

from our little front porch session mentioned in the post before this

Thanks for looking