Friday, November 30, 2012

Friday Phone Favorites

True to my always-late-to-the-party style, I'm finally going to jump on the blog-land bandwagon and start posting some of my favorite phone pics from the week on Fridays. That is assuming I can stick to any kind of a blogging schedule, which for me, is very unlikely, but I'll give it a try. I like the idea of making sure these photos get a little play time, since I carry my phone with me everywhere and catch things that I normally wouldn't with my big, fancy, camera.

I just got my iPhone in October, which by the way, is my first smart phone eva!  (See, I told ya, always late to the party.) So, I've gone back to the beginning to catch up. Next week will be the first set of true weekly phone favorites.

Behold. The last two months in iPhone photos.

1. Gorgeous fall morning and a headless shadow  2. Spending a birthday gift-card at one of our favorite places. The bookstore.  3. Early morning at the office.  4. A self-pic by Sydney  5. Grandma Joyce  6. Country mouse, country-er mouse  7. Barn  8. Wedding at the barn  9. First Halloween  10. Team Carter  11. Tired tiger  12. Late night at a wedding  13. What happens when daddy feeds her.  14. Puppy love  15. Oh, Christmas tree!  16. Keeping my feet beary toasty.
1. Tree deckin'  2. Sweet sleepy baby  3. Away in a manger  4. Making stuffing on Thanksgiving eve  5. Carter's first time with the whole family!  6. Afternoon nap  7. Duck, duck, GOOSE!  8. Just fishin'  9. New colored pencils  10. Chubby baby legs  11. The Costanza, a regular pose 12. Lola  13. Bath time is fun!  14. Lights  15. Gettin' festive at the office  16. Christmas PJ's and the return of Jingle the dog!

Happy Friday!

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Blown Away | Champaign Family Photograhper

I have one word to describe this shoot. Windy. Oh my goodness was it windy! The wind was blowing at 20-40mph, with gusts up to 50mph! We were this close to calling it off and rescheduling, but I was sure we could find a way to make it work, so we went for it!

We used strategically placed wind blocks and aside from a few random tornado gusts that about blew us away, I think it worked out pretty good!

Do you recognize this little man? I can't believe how big he is getting! I feel like we just did his newborn photos yesterday!
One of my favorite family shots. :)
Fabulous shoe pick Kendra! Teal and pink? Yes please!
Thanks Wyatt and Kendra for not thinking I was crazy for taking your pictures on such a windy day. Or more likely, thanks for thinking I was crazy for taking your pictures on such a windy day, but coming out and doing it anyway! :) This actually ended up being a lot of fun. You guys are rock-stars!

Fall Family Photos | Urbana Family Photographer

November was a very busy photography month for me (love that!). I'm a bit behind in posting the sessions, but I've got some time now to catch up so stay tuned for a few more session posts!

First up is the Keyes family. What a sweet family! Lindsey and Brian are two of the nicest people you could meet and oh, their little boy Mason, what a cutie! Of course we had a cold snap the weekend we were scheduled to do their photos, but they braved the cold morning air with me and I'm so glad they did; the morning light was beautiful!


The first thing I noticed when I met Lindsey was her eyes. They are stunning mamma!

Adorable babies and gorgeous morning light, two things that make me very happy.
Little man loves his daddy!
Momma's not the only one with gaw-geous eyes!
Thanks for spending a a cold fall morning with me Brian, Lindsey, and little Mason!

Monday, November 26, 2012

Our Thanksgiving

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart. Wishing you happiness. - Helen Keller

There is something so special about holiday breaks, and I’m always a little sad when they are over. I think it’s the relaxed, simplified pace that I enjoy so much. It’s like the record player of our busy lives screeches to a halt for a short period of time while we surround ourselves with loved ones and have no real agenda other than just being present. We take the time to make everything special about these days; we pull down the good dishes, dust off our favorite recipe cards, light a few extra candles.

Maybe we can find ways to make our “normal” days a little more special from time to time; put away the phone and the computer for a few hours, pull down the good dishes a little more often, gather around for a family movie or game night, or take a drive in the country with no particular destination in mind. Find more ways to celebrate the magic of ordinary days.
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A few photos and words from our Thanksgiving holiday:



In preparation for a weekend away from home, we put up our tree and decorations a little early this year. Sydney helped me sort and hang the ornaments. She loved helping and hung every. single. ornament. in the same 2 foot space at the bottom of the tree. I admit, I did a little bit of re-hanging afterwords.

Lillian showed off how fast she can move now, and made multiple attempts at swiping ornaments from her sister, who was not at all pleased. 


We spent Thursday at my parents home. The four-bedroom ranch house that I grew up in, now bursts at the seems when our ever-expanding family is all together. We've overflowed into outdoor space and a makeshift room in the garage.

My mom is going to kill me for posting these pictures, but I happen to love this little makeshift setup. Turkey table, Christmas lights, and a dinosaur blanket wall...so totally us! lol! It worked out perfectly!

We spent a good deal of time Thursday evening watching these video shorts. Have you seen them? Absolutely hysterical!

Food, shortened naps, and cousin time. My girls were in heaven. 

Along with space needs, the amount of noodles needed to feed this family also grows every year. That's a big pot-o-noodles!

Lillian was captivated by Carter. Where has my little bay-bay gone!

"I'm bigger than you and higher up the food chain. Get in my belly."

Later that weekend we were packing up and getting ready to head up to stay with Jon's parents and we realized, last minute, that we probably needed to kennel Sawyer. Poor guy. We just can't fit the dog, two kids, and all of our stuff in either of our vehicles safely anymore. We called our kennel and they had openings so we dropped him off before heading out of town. Yet another reason I need to consider up-sizing from my sports sedan. 

She was freaking out because her band-aid (from the flu-shot the day before) was starting to fall off. So I helped it along. Gasp! She was sooooo mad at me!
Jon and I went to drop the boat off in storage, take a nice drive, and get out of the house for a bit. 

Random photos of a creepy old elevator that caught my eye.

While we were driving around we saw this dog standing along the side of the road. It was so still, that at first I thought it was fake. When we got closer, we realized she was just really focused on something. We're guessing she was/is a hunting dog and was tracking something. She finally broke her hold when we pulled up next to her and got out of the car.


She seemed like a super sweet dog! Kind of made me miss Sawyer, he loves running around exploring the country side. Maybe for Christmas.

Well, it's time for baths and Bing Crosby, so I'm gonna wrap this up! Happy Monday out there!