tax day.

Today, I am putting all procrastination aside and finally completing my taxes. I do have an accountant, but I've waited far too long to file my paperwork, update Quickbooks, and organize all of my receipts. I've avoided it like the plague. Also, it's pouring down rain today, which does nothing to lift my spirits...

So, before Maggie and Caleb went to my in-laws for the day, I decided to take a breath, grab my camera, and let Maggie play in the rain for a bit before we left. (Caleb is still a little too unsteady for rainboots, but his day will come soon!) I love these photos of Maggie. Her sweet cousin, Lily, just gave her that umbrella earlier this week, and she was so excited to try it out. Also, she's wearing a dress (the same dress that appears in my "LOVE" post) because dresses and skirts are all she wants to wear these days. On a particularly cold day earlier this week, she grabbed a "twirly" skirt and pulled it on over her jeans... because she knew she'd want to get some dancing in on the playground. :)

I know that I say it with every new post, but she looks particularly old and wise to me today. Ready for a new baby, ready to start preschool in the Fall, ready to keep growing... And as much as I want her to stay little forever, I also love seeing her grow into such a thoughtful and sweet little girl. This photo shoot definitely helped make me feel a little bit happier this morning. Also, I'm not going to lie... putting off taxes even more to post these photos is making me smile!

february | at a glance.

February.

-- This little dance party occurred on Valentine's Day after we spent the morning baking heart-shaped cupcakes. The baking and dancing were a perfect start to the day. The cupcakes, however, were disgusting and thrown away soon after cooling.

-- Though I would have enjoyed warmer weather, and I loved February. I loved watching Maggie very purposefully make Valentine's cards for all of her cousins. I loved eating heart-shaped candy. I loved the slower pace that comes with our winter schedule. I feel like our whole family took a deep breath, and it felt really, really nice.

-- This month, Caleb went from walking a few steps at a time to running waddling quickly across the room. It's so much fun to see him getting more and more independent! In fact, I've been enjoying his independence quite a lot lately. I'm starting to even think that taking care of Maggie and Caleb is easy. Don't worry, though. I'll be humbled again in August. :)

-- Maggie and I went on a last minute trip into D.C. to see Disney on Ice. (Specifically, the show featuring all the Disney Princesses.) She hadn't even seen an entire Disney movie at the time, but she can name all the princesses and sat mesmerized as each new character skated out onto the ice. It was so much fun, watching her enjoy the show. I love how much she got into the music and the dancing. She's been acting out the routines ever since! Also, she and her friend Caroline giggled and held hands during the show. It was such a sweet evening.

-- Caleb is officially obsessed with Tim. I used to think that he liked to call me "Dada" because that was his affectionate name for both of his parents. Now I'm convinced that he's just asking for Tim throughout the day.

-- Maggie and I headed down to Durham for three days at the end of the month to visit my dear friend, Lashelle. It was such a wonderful visit, and I felt like I was cheating because I only had to take care of one child the whole time! Lashelle is an amazing mom, talented photographer, incredible cook, and inspired gardener. Just being around her (and her adorable son, Hayston) was like a breath of fresh air.

-- After being away from Caleb and Tim for three days, I felt like Caleb had grown up exponentially by the time we returned. He's just such a funny and sweet little guy. And I absolutely love this age. He smiles easily, loves to hug Maggie, and is almost always in a good mood. And while he's mischievous, he doesn't really understand how to be bad. I almost don't want him to grow up!

That's it for now... More to come next month!

things i love.

Recently, my friend Erin told me that she's trying to write down something that she's thankful for each day. To me, this sounds like such a wonderful idea. I imagine that the first days would be really easy because I would quickly write down all the big stuff... but I suspect that the really great stuff would come later. In the little things. The small moments that would have passed me by had I not taken the time to be thankful for them. After Erin told me that she did this, I wanted to start doing it for myself. And so, today, I'm going to begin (sort of). Since it's Valentine's Day, I'm actually going to write out ten (simple) things that I love. I think the list would be pretty close to the things that I'm thankful for, so I'm going with it!

I love...
1. the way that Maggie used the word "familiar" incorrectly in at least five sentences today.
2. Caleb's bed-head.
3. the way Maggie keeps saying, "and you know what?" when she wants to keep talking.
4. the way that Caleb loves to walk toward Maggie, fall on her, and give her a hug while they both laugh hysterically.
5. the way that Caleb loves to look at books and find the words that he's familiar with.
6. the weather we had earlier today. Seriously? Amazing.
7. the way that both Maggie and Caleb started yelling when they heard the doorknob turn this afternoon because they knew it meant that Tim was home.
8. Chinese food. Instead of cooking.
9. the way that everyone gets soaked at bathtime.
10. Maggie saying, "Mom? I love you" numerous times throughout the day... especially when I really need to hear it.

January.

So, I've decided to continue posting about my family each month. But this year, I'm going to allow myself to just post a photo that I love without feeling pressure to get a family photo. (I'm hoping that will happen at least once this year!) Also, I'm going to be ok with the fact that some months might have a very short post. I think those two things will make it a whole lot easier for me! :)

-- I was a little bummed about turning 30 last month for many reasons... one of them being that I am pregnant and just don't feel well a lot of the time. But Tim made it such a special day for me. He sent me on a scavenger hunt that included an afternoon reading at Borders, a McDonald's ice-cream cone, a manicure, a new outfit and hairstyle (courtesy of my sister-in-law), and a surprise party at my favorite restaurant/bar here in Warrenton. It was perfect. I was completely surprised. And I didn't feel sick all day! Tim's pretty awesome.

-- Maggie is convinced that she's getting a baby sister in August. When I asked her why she was so certain, she told me that Dora has both a baby brother and a baby sister. I love the logic of a three-year-old.

-- Caleb has learned several new words this past month! My favorites are definitely "ball", "oo oo ah ah" (which means monkey), and "sauce" (applesauce).

-- We had one good snow, and it was so fun to see Maggie and Caleb enjoy playing in it. (At this point, I'm definitely ready for Spring, but I'll go ahead and reflect on why we loved the snow last month.) Caleb actually really enjoyed crawling around in it and cried when we took him inside. And it was so much fun watching the two of them go sledding together! Cute, cute, cute.

-- Caleb can walk up to seven steps, but most of the time he refuses to do it.

-- Caleb got his first haircut! He had been sporting a major mullet for about a month before it was cut, so we knew it was time. Unfortunately, Caleb was a lot more nervous than Maggie was during her first haircut, so I ended up holding him most of the time and could only take a few photos. But he does look pretty adorable!

-- Maggie's new favorite past-time is acting out episodes of The Backyardigans. We all are asked to participate, and her favorite episodes always involve dancing.

I'm hoping that the weather will be MUCH WARMER the next time I post. Keep your fingers crossed! :)

looking ahead | changes in 2011!

About a month ago, my good friend Ali took some photos of me for my new blog (coming VERY soon!) and after our shoot, I used one of the images as my Facebook profile picture. My sister-in-law did my hair that day, and immediately my wall blew up with comments about how good/different/long my hair looked. Clearly, I need to brush my hair more often! :) And thank goodness for Ali, because I just might be the most awkward subject in front of the camera. Seriously. It's painful.

Though my blog isn't quite ready to launch, I was so happy to get updated photos for the new year. Because, really, this year is going to be amazing. 2011 is shaping up to be a year full of changes, and I'm hoping (and expecting) that they're all going to end up making me a better photographer and a better mom. Here are just a few of the things that I'm excited about...

1. My blog (like I mentioned) and website are both being updated and redesigned, and I couldn't be more excited about where they're going. You'll have to wait for the official launch, but seriously, it's going to be awesome.

2. On January 14th, I turned 30. At first, I kept telling myself that "30 is the new 20", but I've decided that I'd actually rather not go back to being 20. I feel much more confident and comfortable with who I am now. But I might stop proclaiming each new birthday from this point on. :)

2. I'm scheduled to shoot some amazing weddings this year, and I couldn't be more excited about the couples that I'll be photographing, the vendors I'll be working with, and the locations we'll be visiting. It's going to be an incredible year! I can't wait to share the photos.

3. And, perhaps, the BIGGEST and most SURPRISING news... our little family of four is growing by one more! In August, Tim, Maggie, Caleb, and I will welcome one more little baby into our family. This news definitely took me by surprise (because if you've been following this blog for awhile, you know that Caleb won't even be two yet!) but we're getting pretty excited about the new addition to our family, and Maggie is THRILLED! She has several names already picked out... I'm hoping she'll forget them though.

4. And finally... In response to the big change in our family, I've decided that I need to stop shooting portraits for the next year. I will still schedule engagement shoots, and I have several family and baby (and Baby's First Year) sessions already scheduled that I couldn't be more excited about! But I won't be adding any more portrait shoots to my calendar this year. If you're interested in a portrait session, please feel free to email! I'd love to hook you up with one of the many, many amazing portrait photographers that work in our area.

Thank you so much for reading and being excited with me about where this year is going! I anticipate that my kids are going to make a stronger appearance on the blog this year... And mom, since you're one of my most faithful followers, I'm sure you'll be thrilled! :)

my family twelve times | december

december at a glance.

-- This is the last photo of the year, and I still wasn't able to get one of all four of us. That was part of the purpose of these posts! Oh well. I'm just going to let that one go...

-- Caleb has developed a new love for bath-time. Tim and I have taken to bathing he and Maggie at the same time, and we both need to be there because Caleb is CRAZY as soon as he hits the water. His favorite part is splashing as hard as he can and watching as we scream and laugh and get soaking wet. The whole scene just makes me smile. Caleb hysterically laughing and Maggie laughing and then pausing to say, "Are you ok, Mom? Are you ok? Are you ok, Dad? Dad?" Seriously, this happens every time.

-- Maggie fell in love with "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and watched it almost every day in December. At our church's Christmas Eve service, we started to sing "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and Maggie screamed (I kid you not), "Mommy! It's from Charlie Brown!"

-- We took Maggie and Caleb to see Santa with two of their cousins. Of all four kids, Caleb was the only one brave enough to sit on Santa's lap. (In all fairness, my niece Suki did sit for about two seconds, but she cried the whole time.) The two oldest? They practically ran out of Santa's workshop!

-- Christmas morning was a new kind of magical. This was the first year that Maggie felt a great deal of anticipation, and it was so much fun. (Caleb could have cared less, but watching the two of them together was adorable nonetheless.) Maggie very diligently made cookies with her cousins to leave out for Santa and wanted to know every detail about his visit. "Will he only come if I'm asleep?... Will he come into my room?... Will he like the cookies?... Will he leave something for Caleb?... Is he nice?... Does Santa know Jesus?" Santa brought Maggie a tricycle. She squealed and clapped and rode that thing all over our living room. It's a mental picture that I'll never forget.

-- On Christmas morning, Caleb was more interested in eating breakfast and playing with the box that his new blocks came in. :)

-- A few days after Christmas, Tim and I left the kids and headed to Williamsburg for an amazing dinner at "A Chef's Kitchen" with some of our dear friends. This was my second trip to A.C.K. and I can't wait to go back! If you enjoy food and you like being entertained, I would seriously suggest checking it out. Amazing!

-- Caleb said "Mama"! But he only says it on occasion... and he makes me work for it. :)

-- Thank you so much for hanging with me this year! While I probably will not continue with these monthly posts, I do plan on posting much more about my family this year. More on that very soon!

We love you, Lauren!

Two years ago, I met Lauren Gay at my brother's wedding. At the time, she was a student at the Art Institute of Washington and wanted to start her own wedding and portrait photography business. I remember that she introduced herself to me, and I was struck by how outgoing and genuine she was. I was so lucky to have her join me as an intern soon after, and even MORE lucky when her internship ended and she became my regular babysitter!

Lauren is such a kind soul. She is smart and creative and such an encouraging friend. And I can't describe how special it is to have someone love my children in the all-encompassing way that she does. Maggie and Caleb absolutely love her. In fact, Maggie often goes to bed asking if Lauren is coming the next day. Having her in my home two days a week was such a breath of fresh air this past year... both professionally and personally!

Lauren actually graduated earlier this month, and last week she babysat for my kiddos one last time before Christmas. We already miss her immensely! But she's a talented photographer, and I'm so excited to see what's next for her and her growing career. If you haven't checked out her blog, do yourself a favor and head over there immediately. And leave her LOTS of love! She's just awesome.

We love you, Lauren! Please visit often. :)

This is from Lauren's portfolio show in D.C. earlier this month. Can you tell how happy I am for her? :)

my family twelve times | november

-- Is it really this late in December?! I'm going to blame the lateness of this post on cookie baking, present shopping, and overall Christmas dreaming... it's really hard for me to stay focused in December. :)

-- November was such a warm and comforting month for me. I think that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and we had the pleasure of celebrating on Thursday and Friday that week! I love the time spent with family... and even though I'm not very skilled in the kitchen, it's nice to have a day that centers around being thankful and sharing a meal with your loved ones.

-- I tried all month to get Caleb to say, "Mama". He never did it. Instead, whenever I walked in to get him up from his nap, he looked at me with a huge grin and said, "Dada!" It made me laugh on more than one occasion.

-- Maggie has entered a whole new world of pretend play. I often catch her talking to herself, she has started singing with made-up-words, and she has an imaginary friend named Kenna. (Kenna has definitely been blamed for things that I'm pretty sure were Maggie's fault. :) )

-- Caleb turned one! My sweet, happy baby is not-so-babyish anymore. We had so much fun celebrating him.

-- I realized last month that we don't have people over for dinner often enough. We love having people over, but choosing something to serve for dinner makes my mind go blank. (I think I've gotten over the fact that our house is always disorganized!) But I decided that my fear of cooking should not prevent us from inviting people into our home. So we're trying to do it a lot more often! And if I invite you over, don't be surprised if we serve spaghetti. :)

-- Caleb learned the sign for "more", and I love seeing him communicate. Even having one sign has been so helpful during the day. And one of my absolute favorite memories last month happened when Caleb signed "more" after Maggie stopped singing. It might have been an accident, but it was adorable anyway!

-- Maggie is a serious, serious dancer. Her "best move" has evolved and gotten even more impressive. She especially likes to sing while she dances and often ends with a high kick or a leg lift. I can't wait to get that girl into dance class.

-- I had an incredibly embarrassing interaction with our mailman a few weeks ago. He came to our door, and I excitedly met him with the hopes that he was delivering a wedding album. Instead, he informed me that our mailbox was too full to fit any more mail. Because I hadn't checked it for an entire week! Seriously? Who does that?! So I sheepishly grabbed my shoes and ran out the door to clean it out for him. I kept apologizing, and as I pulled out one crinkled piece of mail after another, I could visibly see his frustration turn into sympathy. He started commenting on the few magazines that he saw, and when he noticed me dislodge a new Netflix movie, and gave me a list of all his current favorites. I felt ridiculously silly. And I definitely owe him a Christmas gift this year. Any suggestions?

-- The end of the month brought a wonderful feeling of anticipation as we cleared out our living room for the Christmas tree. I love, love, love this time of year.

-- Thanks for reading! There's only one more month in this little blog experiment! I can't believe that the year is so quickly coming to an end...

one.

I remember very clearly being pregnant with Caleb and wondering how it was going to be possible to love two kids. I knew that I would... I just couldn't imagine it. At the time, a friend of mine told me that my love for my children wouldn't be divided when Caleb was born because my heart would just get bigger. And it sounds so cheesy to write that down. But it's true.

Caleb turned one on November 20th. And for that day, and the week leading up to it, and all the days that have followed since, we celebrated the life that joined our family one year ago. He has blessed our family so richly, and I can't believe that he has only been with us for a year! He is such a sweet and laid back little man. I love how he smiles easily and likes to cuddle. And every time he learns something new, it feels like Christmas at our house! (That's partly due to the fact that Maggie screams and jumps up and down in encouragement.)

Caleb isn't the easiest subject to photograph, but I brought my three-year-old assistant on this shoot, and she helped me hold his attention. :)







On Caleb's actual birthday, we had all of our nieces and nephews over to celebrate!


cake!

And I'll end with this last photo of my kiddos... Caleb's expression makes me laugh out loud!

my family twelve times | october

october | at a glance

-- This photo was taken on our impromptu birthday trip to the zoo. Thanks so much, Josh!

-- There’s just something about October. Something so wonderful and comforting and perfect. The weather is so amazing, and the holidays are on their way... It just might be my favorite month of the whole year.

-- This month, our girl turned three. I know I spent another post talking about her day, so I don’t want to go too much into detail here. But it was wonderful celebrating her. Her birthday holds a unique place in my heart because it also marks the anniversary of the beginning of parenthood. Three years down. The rest of my life to go.

-- Caleb said his first word this month. Dada. He’s been babbling for a while, but the other day, I heard Caleb make an excited sound and when I looked over at him, he said “Dada!”. Tim walked right in after that. I think my heart melted.

-- Caleb finally got a tooth! He has one lonely tooth that looks just adorable whenever he opens his mouth.

-- Maggie has started playing with imaginary friends. This isn't something that I did as a child, so it's fascinating to me. It's also just adorable. I'll hear her behind the couch having an elaborate conversation about a game that she's playing... and all with herself. It's so, so sweet.

-- I think October marked my busiest work month this year. It was also a month that left me wanting to go outside with my family instead sitting behind my computer. Add to that two sick kids and one birthday girl. The result? I ended up saying "I'm sorry" much more than "It was my pleasure!". More on this later...

-- My friend Lauren started a style blog awhile ago, and this month I became acquainted and addicted. You can check it out here. Every time I read, I want Lauren to come over and redo my closet!

-- Thanks so much for reading! Caleb turns one this month. What?! More photos of our little man coming soon...

three.

On Saturday, my girl turned three. Three! I know that I could easily regard birthdays in this house with a twinge of sadness, but I'm really trying to embrace each new year as a gift. And while I will definitely miss things about living with our two-year-old girl, I can't wait to see what's in store for our three-year-old. And honestly, it's not hard because Maggie is thrilled about being three. (Seriously. Last week, she let every unsuspecting stranger know all about her upcoming birthday!)

Last week, I made it a point to take some photos of her in honor of her special day. I love the thoughtful, and kind-hearted girl that she is growing into. I love how much she cares about her brother and is sensitive to the people around her. I love how much she enjoys just pretending. And dressing up. And drawing flowers on our sidewalk.





We had to sneak Caleb in for a few...





Maggie's birthday fell on Saturday this year, and we had a sweet little party where three-year-old's painted pumpkins that they picked out of our backyard. My brother-in-law made this sign. Maggie was pretty excited. :)


Yeah, three is pretty sweet. Happy Birthday, Maggie girl! I love you.

Guess who's 3 today?

Full blog post to come...