I am back!

Did you miss me?

I missed you!

I have been super busy with my girls and house renovations!

I can't wait to show you everything!
two weeks of no blogging and very little facebooking wasn't easy but I am glad I did it.

I realized I just need to use my block button more and worry  about what the people that really matter to me thinks. 

so enough about that stuff want to see what I was working on?

every day for the month of June I pushed myself and shot short 10 second videos all on my cell phone of anything that I thought was inspiring or just touched my heart. it was actually a lot of fun and my girls hardly noticed because I wanted coaching them I was just capturing them being them and enjoying their summer together. I am absolutely in love with it and urge you to try to do something similar!

vacation from facebook

I am going on Vacation!

 sort of.

This year has been hard on me.

I joined a group of photographers earlier in the year in hopes to get feedback and tips and just learn from others in the field

but all I got was negative 

bad mouthing other photographers, clients, and just not what I needed in my life.

I started second guessing everything I did and what was making me happy.

I felt like I was  going backwards and was not good enough.

I felt amaturish.

this was wrong and that was wrong and there was no hope for me and my work.

I tried to block those things but it still lingered in my brian.

my family and friends would always be there to support me and my clients would continue to spred word and give me great refrences. I truely apprechiate it!  you have no idea how much your kind words have ment to me. and to all those "professional" photographers that don't act "professional" Thanks becasue really all you did was push me to work harder and prove you wrong.

so what does this have to do with my vacation?

we I am taking a break from facebook, emailing, blogging, and pretty much internet all together for 2 weeks! 

don't worry if you are recent clients and need me I will still be working on your pictures and getting orders ready for you. 

I just feel like I need this break to really figure out what I want. spend more time with my family, not stress over people that don't matter and rediscover what I love to do and why I love it! 

so this is the last post for two weeks but I promise when I get back I will be happier and better!

eleven

11 months

she's pulling herself up

blows kisses

brushes her hair

puts her hands up in the air when we say "so big!"

stands up in her crib

loves walking around in her walker

eats EVERYTHING and would probably eat like 8 meals a day if we fed her that much

yet she doesn't seem to want to fatten up

she's gonna be just like her momma 

I love to eat but never really gain weight.

I know, such horrible problems to have right? 

I am not complaining but when it comes to her it make me nervous, but the doctor says shes healthy and in my heart I know it.

I hate to see her get older but I am excited to plan her birthday party and celebrate her
because she has been such a blessing in our lives and most days she is what keeps me calm and reminds me to not stress out that God is watching over us and will take care of our needs. I am so in love with this little girl and so thankful to be her mommy!

Father's day

Father's day morning I woke up early

I wanted to make a yummy breakfast.

with our kitchen being close to finished but still a long way to go

this made it a lot more difficult to cook

I was making trips up and down the stairs to the fridge in the basement and back and forth to the dinning room getting all the food and pots and pans ready.

I made eggs, cinnamon rolls, toast, bacon and cut fresh strawberries.

I divided enough up for everyone and poured drinks. 

since our dinning room is taken over with all the food and dishes we have been eating on the coffee table in the living room.

(o how I miss our dinners at a real table!)

well on my way my robe sleeve got caught on a door knob and miss Belle's plate went flying in the air!

 crashed!

food every where and Jerky was already helping himself.

I took a deep breath and repeated over and over don't cry over spilled milk. 

no big deal I have plenty on everyone else plates to split up.

so I did. then I walked back toward the living room.....

My sleeve got caught AGAIN!!

AND THIS TIME MY PLATE WENT FLYING!

I would love to tell you that I kept my cool again, didn't cry and certain foul words didn't come out of my mouth but 

I am human

Brian came in to help me clean and saying all kinds of sweet things to try to make me feel better but it just made me more mad. 

he said you can have my plate 

and then I yelled at him and said

"It's father's day and if you don't eat your breakfast it will just piss me off!"

......

later we took some pictures of daddy and his girls

he told me he had a good Father's day 

 he said all he wanted was to hang out at home with us and that's what we did.

not only do we have a house full of girls they are all daddy's girls!

blocks

being a little sister is rough

 you get bossed around

 but sometimes the older girls get bored of my toys and they leave me alone

1st anniversaries should be documented!

I was so excited to shoot this session because I had honestly never herd of anyone that did it before and I thought why wouldn't some one want 1st wedding anniversary pictures done?!?! 

 I remember the feeling of like now what after my wedding was over

like all that planning for one day and then bam! it went by so fast and now you have nothing to plan for.

BUT one year should be celebrated and documented

heck EVERY year as a married couple should be celebrated!!!

Chris and Ashley are still crazy about each other and you all know how much I am a sucker for LOVE:)

so here are a few of their pictures we took:

I think this is a great idea and I cant wait to do more!

Ashley and Chris are such trend setters :P

trip to 1976

I know I have told you all about my husband's grandma's hording and passing along things to me when she does decided to let go of somethings. 

well her latest "gifts" included some magazines from the year 1976!!!!!!

RANDOM 

seriously there is no reason to the year for her but she decided to keep these....

 

so I wanted to share some of the things I found interesting

the ads

The decor choices

I almost asked my husband to halt everything with the kitchen and figure out how to make it look like this:

Some super awesome outfits that I so wish I could get my husband to wear

and a craft that kind of looked cool.........I don't think I  would actually wear this but it's different.

o and I just thought this was cute so I wanted to share

(it was not plugged in at the time)

she said "mama I want to make crafs"

A letter to Julia

Dear Julia,

When I think of an 8 year old I don't think of a baby or little kid, I think of a child that's growing more independent. She is strong and confident. spreading her wings and getting a little taste of the real world

 yet she's still so innocent and carefree. she hates to admit it but she still depends on her mommy for butterfly kisses to make scraps and cuts to heal or her daddy for tucking her in at night and checking under the bed. Her laugh is one of the greatest sounds of the world, it's that belly jiggling giggle that is so contagious. She believes in the good in everyone she meets and holds her family so close to her heart. Her sisters are her closest friends and biggest fans.

 Age 8 is that age that makes me want to cry for hours and cling tight to all the baby pictures and memories. I will never get that time back again and I will forever miss it. your missing tooth smile and the way you mispronounce words or reach up to be held. The times I had to cut up your food and buckle your seat belt. your growing up and I know your going to roll your eyes at me when you read this someday but you will always be my baby girl. The one that choose me to be her mommy. as sad as I am that time is flying by I am so excited to see what the future holds for you. daddy and I both agree that you will turn out to be an amazing person but your strong will and that brain of yours is going to make this ride one bumpy road with a lot of ups and downs. no matter how much you fight and rebel and eye roll and talk back we would not trade you for the world. remember we fought hard to be your parents and that is a job we will see through. just do me this one favor Don't ever change. keep that smile, laugh, big heart and love for us because those are my favorite things about you and what makes you THE JULIA.

Love,

Mommy

p.s. Happy Birthday

Lucy and Samantha

Samantha wanted more a studio look with her pictures of her and her little girl Lucy.

we added grandma into one too to get a three generation shot. I love LOVE love how these turned out!

 

 Then we did a few of just Lucy for her first birthday 

 Samantha and I have made comments over and over about how much Lucy and Stella look alike.

I still can't get over it! 

they could pass for twins if Lucy had a tiny bit more hair and Stella would actually gain some weight :P

family reunion

 it's been a long time since all four of my mom's children were under the same roof.

My super hero Brother is stationed in Alabama and my super smart brother just finished his masters in Math up at Kent state. so When Gage was on leave Jarrod made sure he could carve out a few days to come visit too.

we celebrated this rare occurrence at dinner with my dad then we headed back to my moms for smores.

It's funny to think back when we were little and how much we fought and got on each others nerves.

slamming door, screaming at each other, driving my mom nuts!

 But 

now I would give anything to spend more time with them.

Jarrod has always had the brains but he also has these idea that just seem rediculas but makes you want to try it out anyway. he's never dull.

Gage is probably the funniest person you will ever meet. he gets along with everyone and make you feel like his best friend. 

Jeri lynn is our baby that we all feel responsible for and she like to rebel against us as much as she can but deep down she depends on us :P

They are so protective 

and doing some great things with thier lives.

to say I am proud is really an understatement.

This family reunion was supposed to happen last christmas but the Army likes to change things last minute.

But befor that we had planned to do a christmas present for our mom. we wanted to recreate her favorite picture of us. 

it's from a family vacation to the niagra falls back when I think I was 13 or 14?

we went out to dinner and were waiting for a table. so mom pulled out her camera and snapped it.

she used this photo as our christmas card and framed it and it still sits on her mantle in the living room to this day.

it's so funny to see how much we changed and yet how much we still look the same.......

so merry LATE Christmas mommy :P

I grew up with these three crazy people

and it's becasue of them I will always look back and say I had a great childhood.

I only hope my own daughters stay as close to each other as we have. 

p.s. I do have three other sisters and brother that mean the world to me. I don't want to forget about them. they know I love them just the same. :P

and if daddy wants us to recreate a photo of all his kids we will. 

just want to put that out there so I don't feel bad.

spoiled

Big Thanks to Alicia and Abby!

they let us come with them to the children's museum last week.

and did we have SO much fun!!!

I am thinking this one may end up in my countdown of favorite photos of the year! 

here is 2012 and 2011

loving it! I am such a sucker for vintage 1950's anything and my girls of course :P

Mr. Korben came with us and he had so much fun too. 

he actually fought me to get into the stroller and that has NEVER HAPPENED!!!!!

love his smile!

I am so blessed to have such great people in my life that allow us to join them and share in all the fun.

Thanks so much Alicia for spaghetti dinner, trip to the zoo & the museum! you guys are the best! We are so spoiled :P