PARTY TIME!

Maclain had an absolute BLAST yesterday! He officially turns 3 tomorrow, so Jared and I will be hanging out with him all day!! Here are some pics and video that highlight the day!







This is how the day began! Around 5ish in the morning, Maclain came crawling into our bed. Can you tell it took him a while before he finally settled in and went to sleep?

Maclain was SOOO excited about his Mickey Mouse Clubhouse "Jump and Dance" (A Maclain original terminology). He yelled the magic words "Meeska Mickey Mickey Mouse" (Officially pronounced something like Meeshka Mooska Mickey Mouse), and Daddy pushed the magic button and the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse appeared!! I wish I had caught the amazement in his eyes on video!

Time for our Mickey ears!!!! Notice the "3" on Maclain's shirt. Anytime anyone asked him how old he was, he just pointed! He can sometimes be a man of few words!

LUNCHTIME with a couple of friends!

This was probably Maclain's favorite part! :) He's so lucky to have both sets of AMAZING grandparents!! He even had a very special visit from his Great Granny from Birmingham! He just loves Granny!

Now... Check out the coordination in this video! :) This was his first attempt at the "Jump and Dance". As you can tell, he didn't have it all figured out, but he sure was having fun with it regardless! Today he is covered in bruises, and I'm still working to get all the dirt from underneath his fingernails!

As we started singing Happy Birthday, Maclain sang along. It was so cute! Also pay attention to how quickly he jumped up to blow out his candles. He has talked about his candles, and showed us how he was going to blow them out at least a hundred times in the past two weeks! :) As soon as I pulled the cake out while I was setting up, he started asking me to light the candles!

I never knew I could love someone SO much!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Sweet Baby Boy!

Drum roll please.......

TA-DA! Here it is! MANY MANY hours later! :) Maclain's WELL worth it though!! I do miss cake decorating a bit... after my hand in this creative venture today... but photography is WAY less messy. If you could only see my kitchen (noticed I moved the cake into the dining room for the picture! :)

Pics of the party to come some time after tomorrow! :) AND... one day, I'll post a mass previous sessions entry to catch up. I have a computer being built at Dell as we speak (I gave up on mine getting fixed)!

My little man is turning three on Monday!! I am working today getting ready for his party which is tomorrow! It's been a LONG time since I've really decorated a cake (my past hobby), and today I can tell I'm pretty rusty! I'll have to post a picture of the final product... if it turns out... otherwise, off to Walmart for some cupcakes!! :) If you can't tell, we are doing a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse birthday party (this picture is the front of his invite)! After my in-laws took us to Disney World last spring, Maclain gets pretty excited about anything Disney! If you ever ask him "What's your favorite part", EVEN if you're talking about something else completely different, he answers "DISNEY WORLD"!!!!
I can't believe it's already been THREE years since the Lord blessed us with such an amazing love. Thank you, God for all the many blessings in my life... I'm especially thankful for the son you've intrusted us with!

Check out these moves! :)

Yet again... we all think our children are talented, and again we caught proof on video!! I know... I'm on a roll. When I can do my job as normal I'll quit bragging on my child so much, and start bragging on your children again! :)

I was searching online trying to find some fall picture ideas, and I ran across a photographer's blog with the music in this clip. Check out what it did for Maclain!!

Side Note: ALL the dry wall is hung in the new house, and they will start mudding tomorrow!!!! The front brick and stone is almost done, but we're waiting on the rain to go away!! I'll have pictures soon!!!!

CONTEST!! :)

This is a scene from what movie??

By the way... this time, those are his shorts from today that he put on over his pj bottoms tonight! :)
I'm thinking that all of you parents who watch lots of kid movies, AND are great at deciphering toddler language, might figure this one out!!
Good Luck (even though there's no real prize)! :)

My little talented man!

First... I must say... my computer is still fried! We are now down to re-installing the operating system, or just buying a new one... so further and further behind I get! Jared's working on it now, so I stole his computer, and I've got a minute to post a video I've wanted to post a couple weeks now! On to the story...



We all believe our own children are beyond talented, and are capable of success in just about anything! I've already proven that Maclain is going to be a great asset to our puppet ministry at church (see puppet man video), a great artist (remember the permanent marker and the legs), and most of all, he's going to be an amazing dad (you HAVE to remember him kissing on his stuffed animals and tucking them into bed). Well... we can now add to his list of future accomplishments, Olympic Gold Medalist in cycling. That's right... I can see it now! Check out his technique in this video! Here's the background story!



This was like the first or second night the Olympics were on, and Jared caught Maclain acting crazy (or so he thought). Upon further questioning, he realized he was riding his bicycle like the people on tv! Kids are SOOO creative!! Anyways... as you can see, he's already conditioning himself (don't make fun... we won't let him go outside and ride his real bike by himself, so he has to make do for now).



I must add a quick note... okay... nothing with me is quick... BUT, although Maclain is going to accomplish many things in his life, dressing himself is not necessarily one of them. To explain what he is wearing in the video... he WAS just wearing a t-shirt and diaper. BUT, he somehow got his pj pants on inside out, his pj top on inside out, and around his waist (these were his pj's from the night before), and he has his blue crocs on to match (EVERYTHING has to match these days). But... I'm thinking since cyclist only wear like speedos, he's going to be okay! :)

Before I go...
One MAJOR praise in the mean time......... I'm starting to hear some after a few LOUD pops in the ear!!!! Still have lots of fluid in that ear, but after being completely deaf for THREE weeks, the slightest bit of improvement feels amazing!!! Thanks to all of you who have checked up on me and prayed for me! :)

Just to vent...

SO... it's been Wednesday since I've posted a session... and that session was from MONDAY! I've had sessions everyday, but still no posts. The reason being... my work laptop (you know, that and my calendar are my brain) is completely on the fritz! Yes, I'm married to a computer engineer, but even he can't seem to get this one! All the local computer shops either say sadly "yes, we have some here we can't fix either", or they say "I can look at it but it will take a week to 10 days"! I CAN'T WAIT THAT LONG! SO... I just keep shooting more and more session, I archive the pics to make sure I have a back-up, but can't do anything with them!! SO... before I head off to do MORE housework (only thing I can do between sessions these days), I had to vent, and explain why there are no new posts!!! I also realize just how much I REALLY LOVE my job... it's driving me insane not being able to throw myself into it each day!! That combined with the STILL deafness, I am not a happy person these days.

One GREAT thing! Yesterday, when I usually would be getting Maclain ready for a nap, we went and had a lunch date together instead! Maybe God's messing with my computer to get me to slow down?? I SO enjoyed my time with him. We get so caught up in work (which can easily follow me wherever I go with a laptop) we forget how long it's been since Maclain gets our complete undivided attention!!

So, for now, I'm off to fold clothes... not near as fun as editing, but I'll at least be caught up with something!!!

Have a great weekend... and I SO hope to get my hands on some picture editing soon!!!

Sweet Baby Aiden!

I met this precious young man, and his sweet mommy on Monday. He was 2 weeks old, and we actually did the session on his due date!!! I always love doing newborn sessions, and Aiden is just the reason why! He is one perfect little angel! I can't wait to watch him grow! One of the best parts of my job is being able to hang out with wonderful Godly mom's, and his mom is one of those people!! I had so much fun hanging out with the two of them! SO SO sweet!!! Here's a sneak peak, mom! I'll get the others to you soon! :)

Whitney's a SENIOR!

I met Miss Whitney for the first time Saturday, and she was such a sweetheart! It was quite chaotic around us at times, but she hung right in there with me! I'm only half finished editing her images, but ran across this one in the process, and wanted to go ahead and post it! She's yet another one of my gorgeous seniors! They're making my job way too easy! :)

Congratulations, Whitney! I hope you have an amazing year full of wonderful memories!

KELLER IS HERE!!!!

I'm now THREE sessions behind on posting to the blog, but I had to take a quick break for something really special today! My dear friend and neighbor, Lindsay gave birth to her second baby boy yesterday! Her oldest is Maclain's best little buddy... they fight like real brothers! :)

Now, for those of you who know me, the stories that make up my life, do not go without gliches! So, here's another! :) I had a newborn session this morning (pics of those to come soon too), and as soon as I was all packed up, Maclain and I headed to the hospital to meet Price's new baby brother, Keller (aka Kelwwer). If you don't know, there's been a big stink here in Decatur at the hospital, and the only group of OB's that deliver at Decatur General are moving their practice (as of October) to Huntsville. I never thought to ask if Lindsay if she was going to just go ahead to Huntsville or not... I just assumed Decatur. The room number matched up with the maternity floor in Decatur and everything! SO, I ran and grabbed everyone lunch, parked at Decatur General, went up to the 5th floor (lunch, drinks, LARGE camera bag, purse, and Maclain in hand). I knocked on the door, and a sweet nurse from behind me said "I think you have the wrong room". I sweetly said back, "It's the right room number??", and she said "Noone's in that room"! SO... it hit me, and I said "Ah... right room, probably wrong hospital!"! :) YEP, I was 30 minutes from Lindsay (who delivered in Huntsville), with a lunch growing colder by the minute! :) I felt SO bad that I was fixing to bring them cold lunch... but we just gathered everything up and headed that way! I guess Maclain overheard mine and the nurse's conversation, because as I left the hospital (with food and drink still in hand... that had to look odd LEAVING the hospital with food), Maclain kept saying "We're at the WRONG place"... "We're at the WRONG place"! That really helped with the embarrassment! :) I called Lindsay's husband who was waiting for me in the parking lot... you know 30 minutes away... to let him know I was getting off the elevator... IN DECATUR!!!! :) Anyways... 30 minutes later, and I was snuggling Keller, and he was so worth the extra adventure!

Congratulations friends! We're so happy God has blessed you with another precious little one!!

More Sisters!

So... I've known these two cuties for quite a while now! Their mom, Kristi, is a good friend of mine, plus I had the privilege of being their Sparks director in Awana at church! They are two sweet little ladies, and they photograph so well! NOW... I must add... I just love their mom, who I truly feel would do anything at all in this world for me... honestly... she's just one of those people... BUT when it comes to pictures... she makes me a nervous wreck! :) Kristi has a beautiful home, and has the "perfect" picture in her mind that she wants on the wall! She tries REALLY hard to let me in her head to see it too... and I'm trying! MAYBE we got close with this session, and with a little photoshopping we'll get it just right! If not, we will try, try again, and one day, I hope to give her that perfect picture, of her perfect little ones! :) Thanks Kristi for trusting me to try hard for you, and I appreciate your patience and your "sisterly love" for me! And, thanks girls for just being you! You're all a blessing to my family!

Precious Sisters

These two cuties have a baby brother on the way, so we spent Friday morning getting pictures of Mom's belly with the whole family, then we had some time with just the two of them. I must say, these two precious young ladies captured my heart! The "sugar and spice" saying could have been written after them! :) Thanks Mom and Dad for letting me capture this incredible time for you all, and I wish you all the best in these next few exciting weeks!

Cutie Pie!

Yesterday was my first chance to ever meet Miss Lydia! She was SUCH a little ham! From what I hear, she's always been quite the little poser for pictures, but now Lydia can move as she pleases! She was way more interested in checking things out than posing for the camera, yet she still turned out gorgeous in front of the camera! Lydia was SO sweet... and I must add, she has the coolest big sister EVER! Thanks Kendall for all your help... you can come hang out with me and be my assistant any day!

Here's one of my favorites from the session! Isn't she TOO cute??

One Thankful Mama, and One Proud Papa!

Just a few minutes ago, I had one of those incredibly overwhelming moments where I was SO thankful to be able to work from home!!

Just a little background... ALOT of our friends are pregnant and about to deliver within weeks, and we have lots of newborn babies around us (not to mention, we get lots of baby visits to the studio), so Maclain has become obsessed with babies in the belly, and babies in general! He walked out of his room with his Blues Clues stuffed animal under his shirt and said "I have a baby in my Bellwie". Too cute, right? Well, a few minutes later I went to his room to put his shoes up, and as I was walking in, he was walking out and said "Shhh... the baby's 'sweepin'". He had put his "baby" on the bed, covered him up and was going to shut the door so he could nap! :) BUT, I was still holding the stuffed animal he gave me (which he told me was my baby), so it was time to put him to sleep as well! I handed the baby over, and RAN to get the video camera all put together! I caught the tail end of Maclain singing (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star) and rocking the baby to sleep (that's what you hear at the beginning of the video (he's on the right), and then you can see the rest of it for yourself! :) SOO sweet... and brings tears to my eyes... Okay... right as I was typing tears, I got a pair of tiny, dirty socks flung on top of the keyboard followed by a loud "HAHAHAHAHA"! :) The moment's not gone... just more to the story now! :) So, today (as with everyday), I'm one thankful Mama... Clain today is one proud papa to one Blues Clues, and one brown stuffed dog! I'm thinking they are fraternal twins! :)

OH NO... that means I'm a grandma!!

New House... coming along!

Today we got a call from the builder stating that we needed to do a final walk through with the electrician's work, because we are now ready for insulation and dry wall!!!!!! I'm WAY TOO excited! When I stopped by, I was even more excited to see the brick is now going up on the front of the house (there's only two guys bricking, but they are trucking right along), and we got our FRONT DOOR!! I fell in love with this door! :) Here are some pics at the current state! Just a few more months!




The brick is coming along, and the window is fixed!




Pre-Stained, but my favorite door! :)



The sitting area of the studio!!!



Here's the studio... ready for dry wall!!!

Sweet Savannah!

I started photographing this sweet baby girl when she was a newborn, and her family has SO touched my heart! Savannah has one big brother that just started big school, and another big brother in Heaven. Savannah's Mom and Dad have amazed (and blessed me) with their strength and their faith. They are all such a joy to be around, and are such a good example of what being a Christian is all about! Thank you sweet family for blessing my heart, and my spirit! It has been a wonderful joy to watch Savannah grow this year, and you'll never know what that strength and faith you portray has done for me! May God continue to bless you both, as you continue to give Him all the praise!

My Best Friend!

I had two sessions today... more pics to come on those, but Maclain had to be my assistant while testing my lights! He had JUST woken up from a nap, so he's in a t-shirt and a pull-up, and his hair is ALL over the place! BUT, when he had to get his picture made with his best friend Buzz, it ended up way too cute! :) I'm way behind on posting session pics, and I have a cute video of Maclain to put up, but weddings always get me way behind! I'm ALMOST caught up!

By the way... I'm STILL deaf, and I'm very frustrated with it! I've decided if I had a true handicap, that I would not be one that was a positive role model, and motivational speaker... I would definitely be the one that nobody wanted to be around, because I was a miserable person!! I go to the ENT Thursday, so maybe I'll get some results!!

Wedding Bells are Ringing!

This past Saturday, I had the privilege of photographing Ashley and Cody's wedding! They are a gorgeous couple, and they are just adorable with each other! Weddings are the most stressful thing I do... you have one shot at getting it done right, and you can't get sick, everyone has to stay healthy, you can't have car trouble, and the list goes on!! I'm always stressed feeling leading up to the wedding, but once I'm there, and I'm a witness to what the whole day is about, I love every moment of it! These two are a hoot to be around, and I'm so excited to see them starting their life together... even though I've only known them a short time! Ashley and Cody, best wishes to you both! Thank you for letting me share in your awesome day, and call me in a couple of years when a little Ashley or little Cody happens to be on the way! :)

Check out that smile Cody has, just moments after seeing Ashley for the first time!

This adorable little flower girl wasn't real sure about carrying through with her responsibilities. In true girl fashion, money spoke volumes!! :) Can you see the evidence?

All the bridesmaids are in, and Ashley tries to sneak a peak of the alter action before making her debut!

Look at the happiness in these two faces! I still remember coming through those sanctuary doors at my own wedding, and the pure joy (and a good bit of relief) I felt! What an amazing time of life that is!

Check out this big boy!

As we approach the eve of the THIRD BIRTHDAY, I decided Maclain needed a big boy hair cut! His birthday is on the 1st (I'm going to post the invite I created soon... he's going to hate me for it one day). Anyways... his Aunt Tammy gave him a big boy haircut today, and this is the cute end result! Makes me want to cry, because other than his sweet chubby feet, there's nothing babyish left! :( I also wanted to cry when he wasn't the slightest bit cooperative trying to get this picture!!! :) We are off to shoot a wedding tomorrow, so I'll post images from that soon!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Best Client Ever Award Goes To....

So... you all heard my pitiful little story about my pitiful little ear, and then I introduced Kimber to ya. Well, I didn't mention that I had never let on to Kimber and her dad that I wasn't feeling 100%. I try and be as up beat and fun as possible... especially with seniors so they feel comfortable and can really show me who they are. Well, when they read the story, I must have gotten some major sympathy points... that and Kimber's exactly how I explained her to be (gorgeous on the inside too)! Because.... drum roll.... I GOT FLOWERS! :) That's a rare occurence here at my house, so when I saw the lady in the forist van pull up, I SERIOUSLY thought, "She's got the wrong house"... and I SERIOUSLY was ready to say "No, that's not me"! HA! :) BUT... THEY'RE FOR ME!!! And, Kimber and family... they did the job! Getting flowers out of the blue for us ladies is like a big dose of happy medication! :) They put a smile on my face and lifted my spirits! I SO appreciate it! And, Kimber, add to your amazing list of awards the "Best Client Ever Award"! :)

Check out these beautiful, yellow, smile inducers here...

Meet Kimber!

Okay... so before I talk about Kimber, I have to put a plug in about myself!! Yesterday while shooting this session, I was tripping all over the place, and bumping into things (I know... you're thinking, "what's new"?). BUT... it was more than normal! WELL... last night RIGHT as I was reaching to turn the TV off, and turn into my comfy bed for the night, the pain struck! There was a loud sizzle in my ear, and a HORRIBLE pain!! WELL... By the time 7am rolled around and Jared and Maclain were getting up, I was laying on the couch... still awake... still in pain!! I never made it more than a dozing off before I would hear loud pops, and feel LOTS of pain! ANYWAYS... off to the doctor this afternoon, and guess what. I have an EAR INFECTION! I'm almost 3o, and I have a yucky, draining. infected ear... what is up with that?! SO, the doctor sent me home with some meds to clear up the ears... and some to knock me out tonight! SO... before I show you these gorgeous pictures... you just have to know the pain I was in while editing them today (for my sympathy sake alone)... :)

Okay... enough about me! This is Miss Kimber, and yes, she does look like a beauty queen, and she is the real deal! Her latest big achievement in a Miss Teen competition set her up with a FULL PAID scholorship! CONGRATULATIONS! I must say, this young lady is definitely worth the investment. Although she's amazingly beautiful on the outside, she is just as unique and amazing on the inside! She has the whole world ahead of her, and I think she's ready to take it head on and she will make such a difference in those she comes in contact with along the way! And, I just have to add... her Dad came along for the session, and was such a trooper! He had to of received some major dad and hubby points for that one... hint, hint Kimber and mom! :) Thanks guys for letting me capture Kimber and the beauty you can see inside and out!

Meet Brittany!

This morning was my first time to meet Brittany and her Mom! I must say, these two are such a joy to be around! Brittany made my job SUPER easy, and she is just gorgeous in front of the camera! Working with seniors makes me miss teaching a good bit, but getting to come home to my little one after being away for only a couple of hours still makes it all worth it!

Thanks Brittany and Tina for being so much fun! And, BEST WISHES for a very bright future, Miss Brittany!

Here's a sample of your SENIOR PORTRAITS!!!!! :)

Little Helper!

Yesterday, I was cleaning house (yes, this is a true story). I heard Jared tell Maclain, "You helping out buddy"? So, I went to check it out! Check out what Maclain did with the socks that WERE on his feet! :) Don't worry... we didn't let him dust anything with those socks that people would actually be touching! :)

Side Note: When Maclain was finished dusting (which took all of 2 minutes), he went looking for his shoes, and I over heard him ask his "Da" for help putting them on... HIS HANDS! :)

Have a GREAT week!

Sprinkler Fun!

Maclain's first attempts at battling the sprinkler!

Getting more brave with Dad's help.

Still not sure about running through them!

Getting ready for another round of battle.

The aftermath! :)

I had bought Maclain a sprinkler about a month ago with the intention of breaking it out once he did better with the potty business! WELL... we are FINALLY making progress!!! We've had a couple of good days of quick runs to the bathroom... although not many successful ones... but it's much better than the child that was terrified of the potty just a week ago!!! He seriously doesn't take after me at all... I had NO fear as a child! :)

Anyways... after a yummy Rosie's takeout dinner, we broke open the new sprinkler (might I add, we have an older one, but he's scared of it). :) He was SO excited to run AROUND it... not brave enough to run through it... but he LOVED it! "Da" helped him overcome the fear of going through it, but as you can tell, he wasn't quite sure about it! There were some GREAT opportunities for some great shots, but it was getting way too dark for fast action pics. The ones I got are good enough, and the expressions are priceless!! :) I love my two sweet men!