Happy Birthday Ba-Pa

Doug's name has evolved over the span of Jack's 2 years. He started out as "Bumpa" and now it sounds more like "Ba-Pa", so that's what I'm going with for now. We went over to "Nina" and "Ba-Pa"'s house last night for a little birthday celebration. Suzanne cooked up some fabulous filets and made THE BEST German chocolate cake you'll ever eat (it also happens to be my favorite as well). Here are a few snapshots from last night:

Featured Blogger on NewParent.com

Several months ago I was contacted by NewParent.com to be a featured blogger on the website. They wanted me to put together a post for their readers and I have to say, I was a little lost for words....I know I know, me lost for words?!


But I usually do posts on Jack or family related things and quite honestly, I was sure NewParent readers could care less. Most posts on the site are about things from breastfeeding, to dealing with picky eaters, to soothing diaper rash. You know, all the relevant things a new mother deals with.


So after much thought, I opted for some comic relief. I rearranged the post I did on Jack's karate chopping action (on my nose) in order to make it a little more relevant to other readers, and off it went into the vast blogosphere.


To view my featured article you can access it from NewParent home page or simply click here.

Happy Birthday Bronson!

We actually started the birthday weekend festivities in Paducah, Kentucky last night. We had a fun filled evening with our friends, Ryan and Amber Hall. We started out at Whaler's Catch for dinner and enjoyed "a few" drinks on the patio overlooking BBQ on the River in downtown. And I may or may not have had a huge elephant ear after dinner and eaten the whole thing myself....


This morning we met my parents at Cracker Barrel and we gave Bronson the much anticipated gift. First of all, if you know me, I'm TERRIBLE with keeping gift secrets. Not that I'm a blabber mouth, I just LOVE giving gifts and I usually wind up begging Brons to let me give him his gifts early (this also includes Christmas....I'm out of control). But fortunately for me, my husband actually has some self control and always convinces me to wait. But for this birthday, the big gift was a 3G iPad. Mission Accomplished: He LOVED it!!!!


Then this evening we went over to Tracie and Stacy's house for another birthday get together. After dinner we headed out back to the fire pit to enjoy good company and a glass of wine. We had every intention of making smores, but after the homemade ravioli (Yummmmmmy!) and apple crisp for dessert, we were too stuffed to eat another thing. :( Maybe another night!


Also, I just got a good.......no GREAT, flash for my camera. I was trying it out so I've also included some random shots of family members. I really think everyone thinks I've officially lost my mind. I had my camera shoved in everybodys face tonight, but in my defense, I'm really trying to get some practice with my flash. Flash photography is a whole different beast!!

Another DIY Project

We have now lived in our house for well over a year and a half and I can honestly say....our house still is not finished. But that's what you get when you move in before the house is 100% complete (and when you do most of the work yourself). We continue to put things off until we just can't stare at them any longer.


Several weeks ago it was the back splash in the kitchen, or lack there of, that I'd had enough of. The kitchen/living/dining area of our house is my favorite and I was soooo tired of looking at it partially complete, we finally took action. Here are a couple pictures of the masterpiece. It actually wasn't as time consuming as I thought it would be, although I got the crappy job of tile cutting. But it's finished and I couldn't be happier with the end result.


Also, you can expect updated pictures of our piano/dining room in the upcoming days. If you recall, for the longest time all we had in the room was Bronson's grand piano. Well I had enough of that as well and I finally bought a dining room table to complete the room! Things are really starting to shape up around here!!

The Guthman Family (Continued)....

I was asked to take more pictures for The Guthman's, but this time it was for the Matt and Melinda Guthman Family. And of course, I jumped at the opportunity! Again, I got quite a few great shots, but here are some of my favorites...


(Also, I did some pics in vintage and some in Black and white, so I've included some of both.)

Mpix

I've had several questions lately about who I use for picture printing. I use a website call Mpix. They do fantastic, professional quality photos at a great price. If you order wallets they even come with those nice rounded corners too. They also do canvas wraps, photo books, cards, standouts, wall clings, calenders, key chains and the list goes on and on.


You would think from my rave reviews I was getting paid to say all this (although I wish), but that's not the case. I just love Mpix so much, I thought it was worth sharing and not to mention Mpix is offering free shipping on all products thorough September 21st with the code: freeshipping at checkout!


(But as a special note, PLEASE make sure before placing your final order to click on "edit crop" for each picture to ensure no heads or other body parts are chopped off. The "edit crop" option is given on the final, itemized page, before placing the order. If you are printing my pictures, I crop all to a 4x6, so if you're ordering that size, you're fine. If you're ordering a larger size however you must pay special attention to each picture. Otherwise it will automatically crop as it sees fit and often times giving unwanted results.)


I also have another shoot scheduled tomorrow that I'm SUPER excited about. It's with a family of 5 and I'm always up for a new challenge. I can't wait to share them with you all!!

Gavin

This evening I had the pleasure of taking some one year pictures for little Gavin. First let me say, this little boy could be a baby model! No question about it! I am so fortunate to be able to take pictures of children at their cutest, but come on....this little guy couldn't get any cuter!

It was truly a painful process selecting which photos to upload to the blog. If I had the time I would have selected about 60, but here are just a few of my favorites. Let's just say, Gavin's going to have one happy mama when she sees all the precious shots we got tonight!


















*(The following three pictures are meant to go together in a 3 panel frame.)

More From a Cornfield....

You probably figured from yesterday's pictures, that we visited a cornfield on our way home. What better place for end of summer, beginning of fall pictures than a cornfield? But I have noticed in the last week or so that farmers are starting to harvest their crop (do you "harvest" corn or "pick" corn or both?), so I thought I better do it...like now!


Just blocks down the road from Jack's sitter, I located the perfect spot. And judging from this picture you might also notice the field comes complete with a nice green fence and a lock to probably keep people like us out. (I made sure the "No Trespassing" sign was out of view for the picture!)


You're probably wondering, what are you teaching this child? First you take him to play in The Road, then you take him trespassing in a cornfield!!?? But the end justifies the means, and we all love a good picture....right?!