Outnumbered by Girls

About three weeks back, right before the snow while my hubs was out of town, I went to visit my cousin to just hang out together. We only live about 1 1/2 hours away from each other but we never get around to seeing each other. Blame it on gas prices and just plain being homebodies. She invited one other girl over with her little girl.

The result, lots of laughs and poor Liam was outnumbered 5 to 1, not that he minded.

Here is my favoritest baby cousin in Georgia. :)This is our friend Lauren and her little girl, Hailey. You may remember this baby girl from here.

Her mother says that she loves to be in pictures but is not big on smiling for them as you can see here. To me, she is beautiful even without the smiles.

Here's a shot of Liam making a card for Aunt Thelma who had just lost her husband, one of Liam's good friends.

Who's gonna love you if you can't love yourself.

I love the next series of pictures of Lilah. I am not sure what she was doing here since we weren't playing Peek-a-boo.

What a megawatt smile.

A helping hand from mommy.

Isn't she just a doll?

Yes, yes, more feet. ;)
And funny faces are my next favorite.

These cheeks are so kissable.
And the ringlets!?! Perfection.

Liam was very proud of his Spongebob. As much as I despise the pure stupidity that is known
as Spongebob Squarepants, my son, of course, LOVES him. :( Hard at work.
Yes, more feet in one post. Can you remember sitting like this and actually being able to get up without any aches afterwards?

Hello? Daddy?

Even though something got in the way of my lens, this was just to sweet of a shot to exclude.

:D

Her mother told me that she calls dollhouses "coolhouses" because the first time she saw one, her daddy said, "Look at that cool house." Isn't that precious?

And with that I will end this incredibly long, picture-filled post. You didn't mind though, did you? I didn't think so.

I have some more pictures to post soon. Among these, I had the pleasure of photographing two of my good friends around town. I can't wait to show you those. So, good things are in store.

Sneak Peek

A few weeks ago, I went to visit one of my best friend's who happens to be my cousin through marriage. We had a fun night just us and the three kids. More to come.

Branding

One way Spencer and I are planning on using in order to get my name out to the public more is the age old business card method. I have had my business cards for some time now that I ordered from the fantabulous MOO.com but haven't really gotten them into the proverbial "out there". I was using the excuse that the business card holder is just as important in projecting your image as the cards themselves, especially when you are a photographer, and I didn't want them displayed in cheap Staples plastic holders.

Well, I can use that excuse no longer. BEHOLD my creation! Aren't my babies just too cute...but not TOO cute. I am going for professional too, after all. I wanted something simple but that would also reflect the feel of my website, which is why I used the same images I have as my background on my site.

I ordered these awesome sticker/seals from zazzle.com and they look so nice. However, I would reccomend paying extra for fast shipping otherwise you may just tear your hair out waiting like I did. The business cards I ordered from MOO.com have an assortment of different images on them so that when I leave these bad boys in specific boutiques, they have images on them that will appeal to the clientelle. You see below the gorgeous bride, Nicole, that I shot in September.I think they're purty and can't wait to get up the nerve to go around asking the local boutiques if they wouldn't mind pimping me out. ;)

16 Years Ago

We all have certain moments in our childhood that stand out more than others.

I was 12 and my dad had broken his leg and was laid up for the first time in his life. His sister and their kids came to stay with us to help out. My little cousin was quite some years younger than me and easily impressionable. My dad caught me with some kind of sweets that I shouldn’t have. The typical routine when this happened was he would have me get a pin from my mom’s sewing table then, ever so lightly, he would take my arm and poke me with it. He did the same thing this time and my little cousin ran out of the room screaming.

You may be thinking to yourself that my dad was a bit cuckoo. He knew something I didn’t. He knew that diabetes ran in our family and that my propensity towards sweets was not going to help me out in this respect in ANY way. This routine of ours was his way of trying to impress in my mind that if I didn’t watch myself, I could very well end up with diabetes.

Sadly, I didn’t take his advice. My dad ended up with diabetes but that wasn’t until late in his life when many people with the disease in their family history get it even when they are careful. I, however, have been told that I have PRE Diabetes at the tender age of 28. I had this bombshell dropped on me in the form of an impersonal letter from my doctor’s office Saturday night after returning from a pleasant day out with the family.

Sixteen years ago, I ran out of the room looking for my small scared cousin to comfort her and dry her tears. Last night it was my husband’s turn to do the same for me.

Sledding

I was finally able to get out of my in-law's house about 5 o'clock to go home and get a few things. In doing so, I left Liam's mittens and coat behind not thinking we would need it. I was wrong.

Some sweet neighbors we had never officially met invited Liam over to go sledding and I was quick to say yes because he had been wanting to go sledding and to have some other kids to play with.

Unfortunately, I also left my camera at home. I was however, able to grab these few pictures with my iPhone.

Snow Day

So I have been stuck at my in law's house since Saturday night. My dear husband left to join his dad for a funeral in Illinois on Saturday morning with his mom and that afternoon our plumbing went bonkers. YAY! So I came over to stay at my in-law's house until a plumber could be called, and then...it SNOWED. Really?! They always say it is going to but it never does. School was closed today and so was his daycare so even if I could have made it down the treacherous and steep driveway I would have had no one to watch my baby boy. Oh darn, no work. ;)

Why do all of the crappy things happen when my husband is gone?

Despite all of this, we had a blast playing in the snow and I got LOTS, and I mean LOTS of pictures to share.

First is your typical shot of trying to catch the snowflake on your tongue. I'll admit it, I was doing the same thing.
These were taken when it first started snowing and we weren't even sure if it was going to stick yet.

I think he just ran around with his tongue out for so long that it must have almost gotten frozen.

I have no idea what this is all about. What a face.

There is nothing better than watching children thoroughly enjoy themselves. It's just as thrilling as experiencing it yourself and being that age again.

This boy had his tongue on EVERYTHING! No matter how many times I told him not to.

Seriously! Even though I told him it was dirty ice.

This was before I talked to Spencer on the phone and found out that his mittens were in his school bag.

All afternoon he kept coming in and out to warm himself and then go back out to play some more.

The hilarious little boy was endeavoring to make snow angels on the porch. Not sure why he felt the porch was a better idea than the yard.

Snowballs!!!

Hard to believe it will be gone in a few days. You would almost think that we lived in the north where it always snows by the looks of this picture.

So nice being in by the fire.

We finally got Milo to go outside and she had a blast. We kept having to call her back to the yard.

I do think that this was the prettiest snowfall I have ever seen. The snowflakes were so fat and fluffy. :)

This was Liam's attempt at a snowangel in the yard. . .

. . .and this was mine.

Wasn't sure whether or not to include this shot but I think it is funny because I had to explain to Liam not to go near the yellow snow.

The next are a series of the many expressions his little face has.

He thought is was hilarious that a snowflake landed on his eyelashes.

This was right when he was about sick and tired of being cold.
But I did get one last smile out of him.

I did not have a hat so my hair ended up covered in snow. And I was thrilled to pieces that Papa John's was delivering even in the snow since I didn't feel like cooking and there wasn't much to cook.
So it ended up being a nice day and Liam kept telling me what a great day it was. He also told me that his favorite days were snow days.

Turns out I am glad that we were at Steve and Nettie's house instead of our own because there was a power outage in our neighborhood for about 6-7 hours, whereas it never went out here.

Today there was still snow on the ground when we went back to our house and some kids down the street were sledding and invited him over and he had a BLAST!! I will add those shots in tomorrow. I think you may have seen enough photos for today.