(you have the song in your head now, don’t ya)

isn’t it funny how after you have kids, you feel like you need a vacation to recover from the vacation you were just on?  i think we walked a hundred miles in 4 days.  between the parks @ disney, to walking to EVERY meal (we didnt rent a car)…we are exhausted!  at least we can say we worked off the extra calories we took in :)  we had a wonderful time, though - it was worth every blister! 

i won’t officially be back “in the office” until monday, so emails may not get returned until then.   some snapshots from our trip below…we took SO many!  i decided to take our old point&shoot instead of any of my DSLRs.  i just wanted to relax and not be paranoid about my camera.  it was so freeing to literally just point and shoot - no adjusting, no worrying about white balance, exposure, metering, etc.  SO easy!  i loved it!  (don’t worry, i wont show up at your session with my p&s!)  :)  enjoy a couple snaps from our trip!

disney, here we come!  (don’t we look nerdy?)

charlotte’s favorite way to ride - we ended up using the umbrella stroller to carry our stuff most the time

we ate.  a lot.  (some more than others)

there i go again, ruining a perfectly good picture ;) 

fun fact:  we were honeymooners at disney almost 5 years ago!  it was really cool taking charlotte back there and combining so many memories :) 

magic kingom was fun (but very hot!)  we made lots of potty and drink breaks.  (btw, the girl did amazing - not one accident ALL week - even spending all day at parks and airports!  woo hoo!)

sadly, i dont think i have one picture of the 3 of us!  terrible, right?  good thing my mother in law and sis in law took lots of pics…have to go bug them now

i’m off to sleep in my own bed with my own pillow!  yay!

have you ever heard that term?  my mom uses it alot to describe Charlotte…as in “she’s so growny”.  (i think it’s slang for “grown up”) i snuck into her room this morning and was thinking how sweet and baby-ish she looked as she was sleeping…and then she woke up :)  all of a sudden, it was obvious that she is turning into a little girl.  i’m not sure how many of my blog readers out there have 2 year olds, but i am LOVING this age…aren’t you?  she’s a built-in friend, traveler, shopping companion, dancing partner, etc.  oh - and yes she is now officially potty trained.  *sniff*  as the cheesy pull-ups commercial says “i’m a big girl now”.  yes, she is.  she’s SO growny.

remember these shots?  yes, i know, she looks SO different already…don’t remind me

my favorite:

now go hug your kids

she is my hero.

because she makes me see things in a different light.

because she makes me laugh so hard it hurts.

because she is a free spirit.

because she is innocent.

because she is unabashedly silly.

because she loves life.

because she greets each day with joy.

because she has never experienced grief.

because she’s tiny, but strong.

because she’s the best of me and the man i married.

because she gives me a reason to hope.

because she never holds a grudge.

because she is kind.

because she is everything i want to be when i grow up.

because she’s…her.

(taken at the Labor Day parade - where she got her fair share of candy)

just had to share a fun shot from last week…i’m so behind on fam pics.  i finally went through some the other night and found lots of goodies.  we celebrated matt’s birthday & lil miss charlotte helped him blow out his candles :)  after 6 birthday parties in the last month (4 of them being family), she’s quite the pro at blowing out candles.  she still sings happy birthday anytime she sees balloons or wrapping paper

jill - your sneak peek is coming soon!

this really needs no words…

This week is going by so fast!  We are getting everything ready for Matt to go to NY for 8 days.  I am SO blue that he will be going without me…he’s even spending his birthday out there!  Sniff…I’m just a wee bit jealous :)  Charlotte & I will be lonely &  bored without our favorite guy, so if you are up for a lil adventure, let us know!  We welcome the company

Well, we survived the crazy weekend!  Between 2 birthday parties for Charlotte, and 2 surprise birthday parties for other family members…we are partied out!  We are exhausted, but oh what a fun weekend! 

Just a couple snapshots from the weekend…lots more to come - just wanted to quickly throw these up here as I know many of you check my blog daily

Here’s the birthday banner I made for her the night before (thanks Mom for doing most of the cutting & Matt for saving my butt!).  It wasn’t exactly like I planned due to some minor mishaps, but I still love it :)  It will be fun to use every year.

C’s bday party on Friday with her little friends was at a local Nature Center.  We cannot get enough of this place, and it is perfect for the nature girl that she is :)  It was the most fun kid’s birthday party that I’ve ever been to, if I do say so myself

Petting the snake…(thankgoodness I was a Certified Vet Tech in my former life - I think I was the only mom that actually wanted to pet the snake, lol!)

Jill, the educational director at the nature center (who pretty much ran the show, she rocks!) was explaining to the kids how snake eat their prey…how the jaw stretches, etc…and Charlotte was quite perplexed by this!  She kept rubbing her jaw the whole time Jill was explaning

One of the kid’s goodies in their favor bag was a safari hat that looked like a bug - Charlotte thought it worked well as a place to store her rocks and other treasures while she was exploring :) 

I didn’t take one picture the entire day - Matt & my dad carried our 2 cameras around, and it was great!  I had no idea what they were snapping until I went through the images later…what a nice surprise to see so many shots of Charlotte & I together (which are so rare!) as well as some cute detail shots to remember the day.  Like these…

I just love this one that Matt took…I never knew this was what it looked like when I hold Charlotte.  I do this a hundred times a day, 365 days a year, and I don’t have one picture of me doing it that has been captured without me knowing it.   Thank you, honey for sneaking this in. 

For all of you asking….here’s the album!  It’s just a shot of the cover - I haven’t had time to take shots of the spreads yet, but trust me when I say it is gorgeous!  It is perfect!  I have the best lab, ever!  Sitting next to it is her birthday crown, handmade by my dear friend Callie, and designed after a pattern in my favorite new book, The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule.  Callie did a wonderful job - I can’t wait to use this crown year after year. 

and here’s C modeling her birthday crown (this is the 2nd party for her, at our house the next day for just family)  Three generations here…

Like I said, lots more to come - as soon as I’ve recovered

We’re back from our weekend in Chicago - so sorry I have neglected the blog lately!  We took a million pictures, hit IKEA, ate yummy food, and laid out by the pool.  A pretty perfect weekend in my book :)  Here’s some of the shots we took over the course of the weekend…

First up, we went to the fabulous IKEA, where we found some wonderful glass storage (I was getting tired of hitting up all my friend for their old pasta sauce jars, and finding non-plastic storage is tough!)  Yay for these awesome glass pitchers Matt scored -I’m already using them for our tea & juice and tell I’m going to love them.

we tried our hand at self-portraits, and miserably failed.  however, the good news is, if you put these 2 together, we collectively have a whole picture of each of us.  :) 

I love how Matt looks the exact same in every frame, yet I am making the goofiest faces.  I couldn’t keep a smile normally for the life of me!

We had the YUMMIEST dinner on Friday night at Shaw’s Crab House.  We ate outside at the Oyster bar, and oh my goodness….the Coconut Shrimp w/ Orange Marmelade sauce for dipping…..ohhhhh….melt in your mouth!  Goodness!  They were SO good.  Hands down some of the best shrimp I’ve had.  And Matt said the sushi was delish - he could tell it was very fresh and he didn’t leave a speck on his plate :)  If you are in the Chicago area, you’ve got to pay them a visit!

A few more…

Playing around in the restaurant bathrooms (cause you can’t do that when you have your kid with you)

I told Matt he looks scary here…some lady walked up to use the Ladies’s room right as I was taking this.  She probably thought we were two young newlyweds after too many drinks

I am such a big dork.

Notice the oxymoron?

Matt took this one…I think he should come shooting with me, don’t you think? 

Last but not least, my smokin hot hubby :) 

just a little of what i’ve been up to the last month or so…a hodgepodge of client images that I never got around to showcasing & a couple personals:

and a teeny sneak peek into the album I am designing for C for her bday….so excited to order this tonight! 35 pages of lil Charlotte-goodness

from  1 year - 2 years old…

{back cover}

a few of the inside spreads:

and the first page…can you believe how much she has changed in 1 year?  (this was taken last year on her bday)

now for a lil bit of news - i will be out of town Thursday evening - Saturday evening.  Any emails received during that time will be returned on Monday morning.  Matt & I are going to Chicago for a few days for a much needed time away.  Thanks for understanding, and have a great Fourth!

there’s nothing better than turning around in the car and seeing a little person that is only there because you fell in love with the person sitting next to you in the front.

they are such treasures.

My good friends can tell you what a BIG deal it is that C is doing what she’s doing in these pictures!  B/c the child is seriously deprived of sugar.  Unless you count the raw sugar she had once that was sprinkled on top of her vegan muffins.  Errr…yeah.  I guess I am a lil strict when it comes to her diet :)  BUT, I did finally give in last week - purely out of selfishness of course.  I wanted to get some fun snapshots with the wide angle lens I rented, and we were hanging out at home (pantless of course, as you can see…Charlotte, not me) :)  The sucker was a pure bribe, I will admit.  And I will probably regret ever introducing her to the world of candy…but I’ll take my chances.  At least now my family can’t tell me that the child *never* gets sugar.  This is proof.  Now get off my back

Blog will probably be quiet until Sunday night or Monday - then it will be rocking with lots more sneak peeks! Until then, have a fabulous weekend!