I got a crazy idea to try something for a photo shoot for Landry. You know anything that involves a 2 year old, balloons and a creek might be a total torture fest. But I'm a gluten for punishment so I did it anyway.
We needed a way for the balloons to stay put in the creek so we tied them to sticks which we were proud of ourselves for coming up with that idea. Well too bad we didn't think about how they'd constantly be floating around and we would have to keep chasing them down the creek.
Pair that with a little toddler who hated the water and it's a miracle that I was able to catch anything of this girl.
Either way, all the trouble, frustration and hilarity of it all was worth it. I absolutely adore these photos of her. I hope my kids don't remember all the craziness involved in these shoots but just appreciate what I did to remember their childhood.
And here are so UNEDITED outtakes that show what was really happening behind the scenes.
It's no secret of mine that my least favorite season in Texas is the summer. It's miserable. I'm talking I need a shower after checking the mail at the curb.
I think my true hatred of summer was official after two of my 3 kids were born in September. Having to make it through the brutal summer with double cankles and toes that resembled plump sausages has me a little bitter still.
So when I began my journey into photography full time officially in June, I knew that I needed to come up with a mini session that would be short and sweet because of the heat but would scream summer.
Here's a little video of my little sunshines.
I made lemons out of lemonade and dreamed of doing lemonade stand minis. My friend, Kelly, just replaced her fence and had a yard full of old fence wood that was perfect for the job. Justin amazed me so much by building this stand. It was exactly as I envisioned and I am so so thrilled with how it turned out.
These flowers are actually weeds but perfect for the location and with the sun coming through, it almost made me forget that we were doing a session in 100 degree heat. What you can't tell, is that this field is pretty much in the ghetto, but hey, it works.
We decided at the last minute to do these with my family and I did a trial run first before I did sessions with clients. It's a good thing, I realized which props needed some tweaking and used an inhumane amount of hot glue, super glue and velcro.
And wouldn't you know in complete Forced Family Fun fashion that after our session was done, what doesn't start? My car. It's dead...like really dead. Fortunate for us we had a guy who was riding his bike introducing himself that he was straight out of prison ready to help us. Say what? That was a little frightening to say the least.
Luckily, even in the ghetto, you can get a jump and be on your way soon. How is it that our car batteries die at the worst times i.e. bring Landry home from the hospital.
I joked that God was smiling down on me on catching this pic. There is NO head swapping on this pic. Even with props blowing all over this field and the car battery dying. It was worth every single second.
This is what happens when you have an uncooperative 15 month old who was getting over croup while trying to take family photos. This is a composite of 5 different photos merged into one thanks to a really talented and crafty graphic artist husband.
And here's the back of our card.
I got the idea from Pinterest but I think the original lady had a much more cooperative bunch than mine. Oh well, it's the final product that counts, right?
Well, I couldn't help but take some pictures of my beloved birthday girl for her one year old photo shoot. I've had a couple of practice rounds taking some one year old pics so I was excited to get some of my sweet Landry Kate.
All was going pretty well with the photo shoot. Sister was bringing out the oober cuteness factor.
And then our first mishap happened. Just as I put her in the basket, I had really cute balloons attached but they flew away before I even snapped a picture.
No big deal, she's so adorable she didn't even need balloons to make her picture cute.
She was clapping to "If you're happy and you know it" like it was nobody's business.
And we even snuck in a picture of all three looking at the camera at once! Key word: "at once" It's a miracle!
But then things turned south pretty quickly. We decided to give the cupcake smash a second try thinking that it was maybe just a fluke that she didn't like it at her birthday. She gave it another whirl but seriously, this girl doesn't like cupcakes but she sure can tear up a bowl of ice cream.
Shortly after these pictures were taken fussing and fit throwing began and bright pink icing was E.V.E.R.Y.W.H.E.R.E.
Our white high chair looks someone with bright pink lipstick just made out with it. Oh well. It made for some sweet pictures.
All in all minus the balloons flying away and the forced feeding of sugar we did to our child, the first photo shoot was a success!
I can't believe that I didn't put our "official" 2011 card on my last post. Ugh....trying to juggle too much. So how appropriate is this picture to perfectly demonstrate that!
Yes, my daughter is a Christmas firecracker or Christmas vomit (as Justin lovingly calls it). I think Christmas firecracker or the human form of going Griswold sounds much nicer.
And here's the back. I gotta say that I'm pretty darn proud of them. I took the one of Landry in her nursery on a day when she was working that camera like a runway model.
Of course, none of this is possible without my incredibly talented husband doing all the layout work.
I think it might be my favorite card we've done so far, but maybe it's just the cute kids.
I dread the family Christmas photo shoot. Normally, it involves meltdowns from both children and adults, snacks, bribery, and exhaustion. But I gotta say, that this year was pretty painless. We went to a park near our house which is more like a hiking trail and were there for 45 minutes...tops. Glorious.
The key? Don't do poses. Just go with it. Go with the silliness, the laughter and try to wrangle them in for a few family shots, but that's it.
I knew that our time was very limited, not only with the boys, but mostly because of Landry. That nursing schedule keeps you on your toes and there's no rest for the weary.
The silliness (and the promise of a beloved lollipop) help make things run smoother. But honestly, just playing around and genuine lovin' instead of posing helped make this one, one of my favorite shoots ever.
I've been on this whirlwind to get everything done before the end of my maternity which happened this week. My first official day back as a working mom was Monday. Ugh. So Christmas pictures were done earlier than ever before!
I began to adjust to this fake stay-at-home mom thing very quickly. I gotta say, it was really nice. I felt so refreshed picking up the boys from school even as a sleep-deprived mom with a newborn baby. Because at the end of the day, I had my family...
and had some one-on-one time with Landry that I will forever treasure.
The mother's guilt is all-consuming. If I stay home with Landry then I won't be able to see Nolan everyday in the halls and have that special mommy/Nolan time we have after school.
And before I know it, Campbell will be right there at school with me too.
I'm scared about the trouble those two will get in together.
They need to know that mama's just down the hallway to keep them in line.
But if I go back to work, then I'm missing out all my all day snuggles with her and she's my BABY!
So I decided that teaching really is the best of both worlds. It allows me to be a mom and work full time and the perk of the time off helps me sleep better at night.
The guilt never seems to go away when it comes to parenting. I seem to second-guess myself all the time.
And they seem to know a thing or two about what faces melt my heart and help them get away with just about anything. These same faces that make me want to quit my job just so I can stare at those adorable eyes all day.
But as I have this inner war with myself weekly if I'm doing the right
thing, I just remind myself that what matters most is that they feel
loved, validated, and important to me.
After that, everything else just falls into place.
Embarking on this new journey of motherhood has sparked a lot of emotions. I'm about to experience a newfound relationship with a daughter that I haven't been able to experience with only having boys up until this part in my life. I have so many things that I hope to share in our bond with each other. I have a dream about our relationship that I want so desperately for it to be and I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure it's a healthy, loving one.
There are so many things that I want her to know and I find myself already making mental notes of these to make sure I tell her through the years.
All photography below beautifully captures Landry at exactly one week old and were taken by the very talented Kim Martin. Kim, I will forever treasure these photographs and they will always have a special place in our home and in our hearts. Thank you for these pieces of art of our family and our beautiful daughter.
Here are some bits of random pieces of advice to Landry I want to share and a thing or two I've learned through the years...
1. The happy girls are the prettiest ones.
2. Don't be afraid to try something new and take a leap of faith even when you're scared. "You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore."
3. Expect the best from life and that's what you'll get.
4. Make snow angels, catch lightning bugs and wish on stars and stay up to watch the sunrise because life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain.
5. Do what you love. And if you want to know where you heart is, look to where your mind wanders.
6. Accept what you can't change, change what you can't accept.
7. Know that beauty has everything to do with how you feel about yourself and nothing to do with looks or other people's opinions.
8. God doesn't give us what we can handle, God helps us handle what we are given.
9. People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will NEVER forget how you made them feel.
10. Happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather recognizing what we do have.
11. Golden Rule: Would you like you, if YOU met you?
12. Apologizing does not always mean that you're wrong and the other person is right. It just means you value your relationship more than your ego.
13. Be thankful for what you have and you'll end up having more. If you
concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough.
14. Just because today is a terrible day doesn't mean that tomorrow won't be the best day of your life, you just have to get there.
15. Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. - Dr. Seuss
The journey of being a mom of a girl is exhilarating and frightening all at the same time. There's something about knowing that I'm about to mold this little human and I want so much for her to be happy, self confident and compassionate toward others. Making sure that I have the right "recipe" to mold that human, so to speak, is a lot of pressure. While the pressure may be intense, the love just comes so easily, so I'm hoping that is the main ingredient.
And in honor of celebrating having a daughter, I want to share a video of the power of girls and all that the strength and power they possess. It's for a cause I feel strongly about...The Girl Effect. Just another reason to show that girls really do rock.
