maggie and family

On Saturday morning I met up with little Maggie and her family to brave the hottest day of the summer for a photo shoot.



I've done several shoots for this family over the last year and each time we meet I get to see how Maggie is growing and changing. She is the prettiest little girl. Her skin is like porcelain.









She showed me where her belly button is...



And we even caught a few sweet moments with Grandma...



Thanks again guys!

Feel it

Hello Monday. Its you again. This weekend threw me for a loop and tossed me around a bit. But somehow I came out on the other side just fine. Great in fact.

First off since I missed my Friday post here is a WW update. Last week I gained a pound. Boo. This week I stayed the same. I want to lose 20lbs by my 30th b-day and a two weeks ago that seemed really attainable. Now July 14th is creeping up on me and I’ll be honest…I’m scared. Hopefully it is going to be slightly cooler this week so getting out and working out won’t seem so ridiculous. I went run/walking this morning and it felt so nice outside. Sometimes I just need a little Black Eyed Peas to get me going. Today I listened to this song to kick things off..



The only problem is that I do feel it in my body ya'll..specifically in my right knee. The past few times I have gone my knee has been great but today its back to its old annoying habits. Dang. I kind of broke up with P90X last week after just being annoyed that I wasn’t finding an hour, or should I say taking an hour to work out every day. Now that my b-day is so very close and my knee hurts I am rethinking that decision. We’ll see. I have 2.8 lbs to loose in 16 days.

Shane had bar prep class Saturday and Sunday all day. That my friends is just wrong if you ask me. But they didn’t ask me so off he went and frankly it sucked. On Friday night I came down with some kind of nasty stomach funk that had me laid up and Marlie wondering what the heck was wrong with me.

I had a shoot Saturday morning and managed to make it through without tossing my cookies at the park so that was a plus. Saturday night I worked really hard and caught up on editing. Galleries coming soon clients!

Then after church yesterday my awesome mom came over and helped me clean this pit of a house. I should have taken a picture to prove to you the size of the dust bunnies. Huge. We have a green shag rug and it sheds like crazy. We may as well have a green shag dog. But, ahhh it is clean around here and it feels good. The floors are clean, the bathrooms are sparkly. Thanks mom!

Feels good to start a new week with a clean house. I have 4 shoots this week, a really cute two year old to entertain and possibly an attic to insulate. Oh boy. Here we go!

balance

What is that anyway? Everyone these days is looking for balance. Especially working moms. The most common question that people ask me is "How do you balance it all?" The answer? "I don't."

Finding balance is a weekly struggle for me. A daily struggle for me. A minute by minute struggle for me. Now more than ever I am trying to change the way that I operate my business so that balance is not such a far fetched idea. Some days I feel like I am headed in the right direction. Others...not so much.

For a few weeks I gave myself a 10:30pm limit for working. I made more time to exercise, I got more sleep, I told myself over and over not to stress out over work, I focused more on Marlie and less on everything else. It was nice. However, now I feel behind. And today I felt so so very close to having a melt down. I hate that feeling.

So, I am up late. And my butt hurts from sitting here editing. And I'm thinking about my new website that I keep leaving to work on in my "free time". Yeah, there isn't any of that these days.

Today I am not feeling balanced. I'm behind on editing. My house is so very dirty. I seriously can't remember the last time I cleaned the bathroom. There are dust bunnies the size of tumbleweeds rollin around here. I'm almost out of Marlie's milk. I haven't worked out all week.

I think as women we look at other women and think "She has it all together. I want to be like her and have things balanced." What I've learned is that those ladies probably have huge tumbleweed dust bunnies rollin around too.

So, we may not find balance every day. But we should find grace. Grace for ourselves.

Back to work. Tomorrow is a new day.

senior photography

Last weekend I met up with three gorgeous girls for a session here in Lafayette Square. Dani, Laurel, and Courtney were sweet enough to be my models for some senior photography advertising I am working on.



These are just some of my favorites.



















Seriously, how could you take a bad photo of those girls? So beautiful.

If you are thinking about a senior photography session I highly recommend doing it with a friend. Its so much fun having someone there with you.

Thank you Dani, Laurel, and Courtney! It was fun!

You are the best daddy..

Because you somehow still make time for Marlie amongst your crazy schedule.

Because you are the hardest worker I know and really deserve a massage.



Because you deserve a huge stack of cinnamon bun pancakes every day, but forgive me for pretty much never making breakfast.



Because you don't mind it when Monkey Pants is a total breakfast pirate and then smears syrup all over your pillow.



Because you just are. You're the best.



Happy Father's Day Shane. Love you!

miss McKinley

My friends Lauren and Kevin, who you might remember from their maternity shoot came over last Friday to introduce me to little McKinley. Oh my word is she cute!





There are so many great shots it was hard to pick.

We tried out a new little hat...





This one is sure to be one of my favorites of the year. Love that expression on her face!







Welcome to the world McKinley. You have two wonderful parents! And congratulations Lauren and Kevin. She really is adorable!

Wow! Thanks for all of the comments guys! I was starting to wonder if people really were reading this thing. Come out from behind your Google reader folks! It is a wonderful thing, don't get me wrong. But, comments make bloggers keep blogging I think. And don't worry, I will get myself a new pair of designer jeans. I think that is going to be my reward when I reach my 20lb goal and for my 30th b-day coming up. Nordstroms here I come!

Now for the winner! Monkey Pants is fast asleep so I used random.org to pick a winner for me this time. And the winner is #32!

Amanda congrats to you! Shoot me an email and tell me what name you want and your mailing address and that collage is yours! And everyone else should check out her blog and her cute etsy store! This lady is talented.

Now for some cute photos! Graham and his parents came over last week for a shoot. This little guy was not super excited about having his picture taken in the studio...



Except when his dad was tossing him up in the air that is.



But, he loves to be outside so we headed out and he had a great time.







Thanks guys! It was great to meet you and your little monkey!

blogiversary giveaway

In all the mayhem that has been Spring around here I managed to totally miss my blogiversary. Sniff..sniff. I'm kinda sad about it really. If it wasn't a totally nutsy thing to do I would send myself a card, probably with a silly monkey dressed up in people clothes on it, that said "I went bananas and forgot your blogiversary. Hope it was as fun as a barrel of monkeys!" I would also include $100 bill as a gift to buy a new pair of designer jeans.

But lets face it, that would be nutsy, they don't make blogiversary cards anyways and I don't have $100 to spare. So instead lets just have a moment to celebrate. Here are some of favorite post from my first year of blogging. I don't know why, they just are. Click if you care to reminisce..

Bridget Jonesness

One on one with Mista Nug

Luxotica

Dearest Monkey Pants..

We had to have a talk

the scenic route

And to celebrate leave me a comment and you will be put in a drawing to win a free name collage! I am headed off to the country with my mom and monkey pants for the next two days. When I get back on Wednesday night I will choose a winner. So, come on out of the woodwork you blog stalkers :). Seriously, 121 views yesterday and no comments?! Leave some comment love.

Last weekend I met up with Jon and Claire for their engagement session. I knew I liked these two from the first time we met, but when they showed up with a bottle of wine as a gift for me...then I knew I really liked them. It had been a really long week and it was such a thoughtful thing to do.



Its clear when you are with these two how much they love each other.



Jon is always making Claire laugh. Its pretty cute.





Thanks for a fun time guys! Looking forward to your wedding in December!

SUCCESS!

Last week I missed my Weight Watchers meeting because I did a mural in a baby's room for a client all day. This week I worked my butt off. I was determined to have a good weigh in. I worked out every day and really watched my points. Today was weight in day and... I lost 2.4 more pounds! Aaaahhh! I am pretty excited. That brings the total to 18.2 so just 1.8 more to go. I am so surprised and very happy. I was getting a little nervous that I would never reach that 20 pound goal, but it looks like I just might get there!

I celebrated a little today with a pedi and mani courtesy of my momma. Thanks mom! Don't you love the funny names that they name nail polish? My shade of choice today...Wanted, Red or Alive. Mom's choice...Clubbin Till Sunrise. That mom, she's always clubbin.

Kids for Kairos wrap up

I finished out the Kids for Kairos fundraiser recently when I met this cute family for their rain date shoot. We fit most of the shoots in on the original day, but it really poured during the Rose's time slot so we had to reschedule.

A bunch of really cute kids...









and two really fun parents...



Thanks again to everyone who participated in this fundraiser. We raised $500 for the Kairos Christian School in Guatemala! And that is awesome. Thanks for helping these kiddos...

scott + sarah + belly

Last week I met up with some close friends of mine for a maternity shoot. Sarah and Scott are expecting a little girl next month.

Sarah is a ridiculously cute pregnant lady. Like she is just storing a basketball up her shirt. Its pretty annoying... I mean adorable. I love you Sarah, I'm just jealous.

We did some shots in the studio. This one is my favorite...



Then we headed to the Central West End for some urban shots...







And then found a grassy field for a different look..







If all goes as planned I will have the honor of documenting the birth of this little baby. Can't wait to meet you Charlie!