Sneak Peek: Spring Photo Shoots

The past month, I have had the privilege of doing a handful of photo shoots.

And, they were all different types of photo shoots, which made it fun and gave me some variety.

Here are a few sneak peeks of some of my favorites!

First up, I had Mason's 1 year photo shoot!

How adorable is Mason?

Mason is such a good little boy, he was really cooperative & so easy to take pictures of!

This is my favorite one of the session!

Tegan & Mason drove down from Sacramento for the session!
I had so much fun with you guys!

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At the end of March, my friend Kelly asked me to take pictures at her & her husband's 10 year anniversary vow renewal.

During the cocktail hour, the beautiful couple:
I was also able to get some cute pictures of some of the kids running around.
Tyler, their sweet, precious son:
and, their daughter (& Kate's friend) Nicole:

And, their 2 nieces:
What a great smile!
During the ceremony, there were a lot of smiles & laughter...
and, a lot of hand holding...
Happy 10 years to an amazing couple!
Thanks for letting me be a part of your special day!

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When we were in Pebble Beach my younger sister Becks and her boyfriend Jason allowed me to do a photo shoot of them on the beach at sunset.

I wanted practice doing beach & sunset photo shoots.
Thanks to Jason & Becks for being my guinea pigs!

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Then 2 weekends ago, I had a photoshoot with my first repeat client!
(that made me feel good!)

I first did a session with these 2 brothers last fall for their family Christmas card.

They are 13 months apart & didn't sit still for a minute!
Their mom wanted some fun Spring park pictures of them playing & just being boys!

I was literally running around the park snapping pictures of them!
Big brother was cheesing it up for me:
But, the little brother was more shy & didn't want to smile for me.
This is one of him giving me a "courtesy" smile. ha!

I have a few more sessions coming up in the next couple of months that I am looking forward to!

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Even though life is crazy busy & chaotic right now, I love squeezing in time for photography.

I can escape behind my camera & capture beautiful moments amongst the chaos of everyday life.

And, lately there has been A LOT of chaos with our moving situation.
The last two weeks have been a roller coaster ride.
We still haven't closed with our old house, there have been some major hiccups with the buyer's lender/bank/appraisal, etc.
It is really, really frustrating & stressful.
We were supposed to close on our old house last Wed (4/21) and our new house was supposed to close today.
I am not sure everything is going to work out & we might have to start over with the whole process of buying & selling. Just typing that makes me want to cry.

We would appreciate the prayers!

19.5 months old

This past Friday, April 23rd, Claire turned 19 and a half months old.

Generally, this is an age that is a milestone, but to me it was fun to have her turn 19.5 months old.

Why you might ask?

You see, Claire was born the day Kate turned 19.5 months old.

The are EXACTLY 19 and a half months apart.
Now that Claire is this age, I CANNOT believe I had kids that close together.
{I know a handful of people who have kids EVEN closer than that, like my childhood friend Shannon, whose girls are 12 months & a few days apart. whoa.}
I just can't get over the differences in my girls at this age.
At 19.5 months old, Kate seemed older than Claire does.
Maybe because Kate was an only child & we didn't know any better.
Maybe because Kate was more verbal than Claire is.
Claire looks older than Kate did at 19.5 months.
And, Claire is about 100 times BUSIER than Kate was.
Claire is into EVERYTHING and climbs EVERYTHING.
We may or may not have given her the nickname "Crazy Claire"
She is exhausting! Her favorite words are "no" and "why?"
Claire has also started having temper tantrums. Those are fun...not.
We love her & can't imagine our family without her....but man, she is always on the go & keeps us on our toes!
I must say I am GLAD that I had Kate first because if the order was reversed and I had Kate when Claire was 19.5 months old...WOW.
That would have been A LOT of work.
P.S
If you watch the Today show, make sure you watch it tomorrow (Monday) at 8am.
My friends from college Matt & Ginny will be on the show sharing about their son Eliot.
Be sure to watch, you will be changed & inspired.
and
Our church is doing a project called Kingdom Assignment.
They gave 100 members $100 to try and multiply the money for the glory of God.
Kevin (along with his small group of senior high guys) & I have teamed up and are trying to raise money to build a well through charity:water.
(This is the same organization we used with Project 320)

One of the high school boys designed this button & made them into stickers to pass out at school.
Our goal is $5,000 & so far we have raised $1,270.
Any donation amount helps, $2, $5, $10, etc.
Click HERE to donate!

If I let her...

...she would wear this EVERYDAY.
this purple shirt
{which is 2 sizes too small, note the belly hanging out}

this pair of purple leggings
{which is clearly not the same shade of purple as the shirt, but Kate thinks it matches perfectly}

Have I mentioned I am not a big fan of purple?
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the color PINK!
Have I mentioned that purple is Kate's favorite color?
These are the only 2 purple clothing items she has, which is why she wants to wear them every single day.
I think I need to {suck it up} put my purple bias aside and buy her more purple for her Spring & Summer wardrobe.

Watch out Target, here I come.

Longest Week Ever (and a Winner!)

Wow, what a week it has been.

Where do I even begin?

Here is a re-cap of our week....
Sunday:
Our first full day at my parents. We have taken over the "west wing" of the upstairs.
All of our crap is everywhere.
The girls are adjusting well to living at my parents.
They miss their dog (my parents backyard doesn't have a fence, so my in laws are keeping our dog for the next few weeks)
Oh yeah, and did I mention my parents are getting their master bath remodeled, so we are all sharing 1 bathroom? Good times.
Monday:
There were issues with the appraisal & buyer of our house.
We thought everything was going to fall through.
I am FREAKING out. Kevin was calm.
Tuesday:
Things with the house situation look up & it seems like everything is going to be okay.
We have a staff meeting at school.
My principal announces she is retiring at the end of this school year.
This makes me sad. I really, really like my principal. (and, she likes me)
I know what to expect with her. Now, a new person is coming.
Have I mentioned I don't like change?
All this change is causing me to almost have a panic attack. For reals.
We get a call from our realtor at 9:30pm on Tuesday night letting us know a house in our dream neighborhood is back on the market.
Wednesday:
I am still stressed about house stuff.
Old house stuff, possible new house stuff....it is all overwhelming.
I don't know about you, but when I get stressed, I can't eat.
The thought of food makes my stomach turn.
I think the only thing I ate on Wed. was a peanut butter & jelly sandwich.
I am so stressed that I am breaking out. Hello, am I 13? geez.
We put an offer on the new house & wait to find out.....
Thursday:

Kevin leaves Thursday morning for his guys weekend in Lake Tahoe.
All day, I am freaking out (again) & anxiously waiting to hear if our offer was accepted.
Rush around getting paper work signed & copied for our mortgage broker & lenders.
Drive by the potential new house several times hoping & praying everything works out.
Finally find out at 9:00 pm that our offer was accepted. PRAISE THE LORD.
Want to cry tears of joy, but still anxious about our old house closing.
I can't wait to go into more details...it is a total God thing & it is so clear how he orchestrated this entire situation (and for that, I am thankful!)

Friday:
I find out one of our friends is expecting their first baby this November!
Later that morning, I get a call from one of my college roommates letting me know she got engaged the night before!
I email back & forth with our mortgage broker getting everything in order for the new house.
After school, I take the girls to get a chocolate milkshake & then to Target to celebrate that the weekend is here.
Kevin is having a great time in Tahoe with all the guys!
Photos taken by Brian

They went on a snowshoeing adventure Friday afternoon
Saturday:
Claire wakes up at 6:30. She never wakes up this early!
Didn't she get the memo that it is the weekend?
I have a photo shoot Saturday morning & then I go back to our old house and finish packing up the kitchen & bathrooms. Then my sisters & Jason come over to help me load boxes & take them to Elyse's garage.
THANK YOU SO MUCH for all your help.
And, a HUGE Thank you to my mom who watched the girls all day.
I wouldn't have been able to do it without everyone's help.
Sunday:
I went back to our old house & cleaned, cleaned, cleaned.
Our house is empty, just a few things in the garage.
My mom & I take the girls to go look at couches.
Kevin gets home & the girls (and I) are SO happy he is home.
We go to dinner at his parents house & then when the girls are in bed we head to our old house to do touch up paint (where we had pictures hanging, etc) and to load the final things into the POD.

And, I finally picked a winner for my giveaway using random.org
Congrats to Lori! You won the giveaway!
Email me your info!

I am glad this week has come to an end.
I am looking forward to this coming week.
Our old house should close in the next 2-3 days.
I am praying there is no more drama & that everything goes smoothly.
I don't know if I can handle anymore stress. I swear I have an ulcer.
I think I lost 5 pounds last week from not eating. My pants are loose.
Thank you to all of our friends & family who have been praying for us this past week!
It is SO appreciated!
I can usually handle stress, but this last week put me OVER the edge. Yikes.
I know all this stress will be worth it.

2nd Annual DMV Contest

**Edited on April 15th at 11:15 pm to add 2 more pictures. Scroll Down to the end**

Last year, my friend Wendy had a contest on her blog for the Dirtiest Mini Van.

While, I don't have a Mini Van (I refuse to drive one)
I do have a Dirty Chevy Tahoe.

Guess who WON last year's contest?
That's right, your truly.
Here was my winning entry last year.

The DMV contest has arrived for 2010. I have a title to defend this year!

This year is no different. My car is still filthy.
Same dirty Tahoe, same usual suspects.

You must watch this funny video that I posted last year...
It will help you get in the Dirty Car Spirit:


Here we go with my 2010 DMV submission!
Let's start with the door on Claire's side...splattered with milk from her sippy cup:

She loves flinging her sippy cup around.

Claire's side of the car:
Close up of her carseat area:

Kate's side of the car:

More back seat:

Front Seat Console:

More front seat mess:

Here is what I got for winning last year:

Trunk Area
(note the pink sippy cup that is tucked into the high chair, it had been there since Easter. I took these pictures 6 days after Easter. ewww!!!)

Want to see the "science experiment" that was in the sippy cup?

Totally nasty chunky milk! *gags*

***Edited on April 15th at 11:15 pm to add:
Kevin left this morning for his guy's weekend in Tahoe.
Tahoe might get snow this weekend, so he had to bring my car because it has 4 wheel drive.
So, at 7:45 am before school, I had to rapidly clean out my car.
I may or may not have filled up 3 garbage bags of crap.
Kevin took out the girls carseats because he had to pick up 2 of his friends at the airport on their way to Lake Tahoe.
He took pictures of what he saw when he took out the carseats:

Exhibit A:
Exhibit B:
What can I say? I give my girls lots & lots of crackers while we are in the car. I now know where they end up.

Kevin said in the name of integrity, then I need to add these pictures to this post.
And, I think he is a little bitter that he spent 30 minutes vacuming & wiping down my car.

I'm just excited to have a semi-clean car when Kevin gets back from his guys weekend!
Hopefully, the girls (and I) won't trash his car too much in the next 3 days....

Now, go to Wendy's blog & check out the other entries!
{Click the logo to see the other contestants}

And, it's not too late to participate, you have until midnight on April 15th to enter!
If you are too embarrassed to enter.....that means you should enter!
Go take pictures of your dirty car!
Voting begins April 16th!
I don't think I am going to win again this year, the competition is fierce!
Can't wait to find out who is going to de-throne me!
And, I can't wait to pass on that annoying rubber chicken!

I Heart Faces: Dessert

The theme this week at I Heart Faces is Dessert!
I am a big time dessert lover.
I love to make dessert & I really love to eat dessert!

And, guess who the guest judge is?
The one and only Bakerella!
I have been following her for over a year. I love everything about her site...her pictures, her recipes, her gorgeous creations!

I knew I had to enter this week with a photo of one of my favorite desserts:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes!
These are true crowd pleasers! And, they are SO easy to make!
You can find the recipe HERE.

Check out the other dessert entries at I Heart Faces they will make your mouth water!