Charlie's newborn shoot

On Sunday Sarah and Scott brought Charlie over for her newborn shoot. The last time I had seen her was minutes after she was born. I thought she was cute then but somehow she has gotten even cuter.

Don't you love the funny little faces they make in their sleep?





We tried a new little hat. I love this little elfie hat on her.





This next shot is an example of why it is so important to take newborn photos as close the birth as you are comfortable with. At least within the first two weeks. Charlie is just about 5 days old here. They are so malleable when they are brand new!



We also tried out a new hammock prop. Not so sure I've got the hang of it yet, but Charlie was patient as I tried it out.



The two red heads...




She already has eyes for her momma.



Thanks you three!

Idolie

Sorry I have been MIA for a few days. Shane kindly asked that Monkey Pants and I take a little trip while he studied his last hours before taking the bar exam. So off we went with my mom for a little girl's trip. Good times. Marlie made leaps and bounds in her swimming skills. And by that I mean she did not scream and kick when we tried to get her to merely touch the water with her feet like last time. She actually swam and loved it and so did I. Unfortunately she took her new found courage and applied it at bed time by tossing herself out of the pack-n-play over and over. To which I say... crap bag, here we go. I guess a toddler bed is in our future.

We are back at home and Shane is in Jeff City half way through the bar exam. By this time tomorrow he will be snug in bed next to me. So looking forward to that!

This week before we headed out of town I had a few photo shoots. One being this cute little family...



Love this one of daddy and baby..




She has the most interesting name. I am sucker for original names. Idolie (pronounced E-dough-lee) is named after her great-great-great grandmother. So cool!



I couldn't resist the dimply buns...



Thanks Philip and Allison! She is really cute!

Charlie Elizabeth

This was my first experience with birth documentary and I must say it was amazing. Everything about it. There are so many images that I love from the day but this is probably my favorite...



Click here to see a movie of the whole shoot. There is a little sneak peek of my new logo at the end there. New website..still working on it!

Thank you Scott and Sarah for trusting me to capture such an important day. She is beautiful!

quick hello

Just popping in here for a quick hello. I just realized that my lack of blogging might lead you to believe that little Charlie's delivery didn't go well which is not true at all. I've just been busy catching up on work and editing. Charlie's birthday was amazing and beautiful and I was honored to document it. She is an adorable little thing with a head of red hair like her daddy. And Sarah is doing great. Photos to come soon after mom and dad get a chance to see them.

Today is your pretty standard Thursday. I had a shoot with a cute little girl this morning. Marlie is on her way home for books and nap time. I think a nap is in my future too. Shane is still trucking away on studying with some caffeinated water at his side. I just had the best realization...by this time next week the bar exam will be over. Ahhhh. That is a nice thought.

Happy Thursday peeps.

waiting for Charlie

For the last few days the weather in St. Louis has been amazing. Usually July is blazing hot and sticky and the kind of weather where you can't even stand to put your kid in the car in their car seat. Instead it has been breezy and cool and lovely. The kind of weather that makes you want to breathe deep and have a drink on the patio with friends and get out and exercise.Not necessarily in that order. So nice.

This morning as I was driving I saw a man taking advantage of the weather by going for a nice jog. A nice jog wearing only blue spandex biker shorts and black knee pads. Hmm... I had to wonder what thoughts went through his mind when he chose that outfit. Why the knee pads? Well, if he falls his knees will be unscathed.

The last few days Marlie and I have been hanging out with friends and enjoying being outside and trying to stay out of this guy's way as much as we can...



Shane is on "vacation" from work and studying full time for the bar at home now. He is in full on face in the books, petal to the metal study mode. Proof of this is the fact that yesterday he said to me "I need more caffeine but I am so sick of all caffeinated beverages. I don't want any more coffee or soda but my eyes won't stay open." A frappuccino was all I could come up with so I went and got him one. Oh man. I don't know how he does it. The exam is next week so we are getting close!

Today I am hanging around near the hospital working and waiting to document little Charlie's debut.



Can't wait to meet her!

little W.

A few weeks ago I went up to the hospital to meet little W. for the first time....



New to the world and making his mom and dad pretty happy.





Then last week W. brought his two older brother's to the studio for a little photo session.



These boys were adorable. They had me laughing and did what we asked them to do. With some candy as a reward of course.



And then we got a few shots of W. by himself. Oh that face!

I promise I'll shut up about my birthday after this..

I had a great b-day. Full of fun little things and surprises. My time with Amy and Beth last week was so fun. Laughing, relaxing, shopping. I love our trips. A surprise dessert party with some friends made me feel all warm and fuzzy. Shane gave me a sweet sweet card that made me tear up a bit and get even more excited about him being done with the bar exam soon. My client gave me a starbucks card at our shoot yesterday morning which was a such a great surprise(Thanks Angie!). And last night my momma took me to my favorite restaurant and then to get a pedicure. Heaven.

Besides my jeans I got a few other awesome things as presents. My mother in-law got me a pair of Ugg boots. I realize that I am approximately 4 years and one season behind on the Ugg bandwagon, but that is how I roll. Every winter I wish I had some and now I will. My mom got me this incredible camera bag that I have been wanting called a shootsac.



Its incredible and I can't wait to use it!

This wasn't a b-day gift, but this awesome bow holder came in the mail from my friend Carmen last week..



Cute eh? I forgot we had all these great bows until I had someplace so adorable to put them. Check out Carmen's etsy store she can do any letter and coordinate it with your room colors. It would make such a cute gift!

Finally, I will leave you with my favorite conversation of the day...

E: Hey, I'm going to the grocery store, what would you like to have around for studying?

S: Um, I need some snacks. Like not really healthy, but kind of healthy stuff that would be a good snack.

E: Like what babe?

S: Oh, I don't know. Just get a bunch of Little Debbies.

Oh Shane. You make me laugh. Lets say an extra prayer for me OK friends? When Little Debbie enters this house it makes keeping all this weight off even harder.

Leida + friends

Remember Leida? We have been busy the last month or so with our shoots of her with her family and closest friends doing the things they love to do. Here are a few shoots we have done..

Leida and her friend Gloria met me in the U-City loop for some shopping. I love the profile shot of them talking to each other. Gloria is pregnant and you can see her cute bump.


We went to a thrift store to see what we could find.



These glasses were great, but while the girls were checking out at the counter I just happened to look down and struck gold. STICK ON MUSTACHES. We couldn't resist. Made me think of you Emily! FYI, Rag-O-Rama has the sticky kind!





This shoot was so much fun!

Another shoot we did was with a family that Leida is close with. We met at the Muny for some shots. Can you even handle these kids? So cute.





Then we headed to Crown Candy Kitchen for some lunch and of course milk shakes.





More Leida posts to come! I have really enjoyed these shoots. Capturing people who love each other doing things they love. what could be better?

Tonnight Beth surprised me with a little b-day party with some girlfriends of mine. Such a surprise and so greatly appreciated! Love you friends.

Tomorrow I have a shoot in the morning and I'm hanging with my momma at night. She did give birth to me after all. Sounds like a great birthday to me!

winner winner!!!!

Thanks for all of the great comments everyone! And for the birthday wishes. My actual b-day is Tuesday. The big 30. Yikes!

And now for the winner! There were 23 comments left. I used random.org to choose the winner and it chose...#23! No lie. Good thing you left that last comment Sarah! Shoot me an email (erin@justthething-originals.com) and tell me your mailing address and the color you choose and that print is yours!



I am going to use this post to answer some frequenty asked questions about the whole weight loss/Weight Watchers thing...

Q: Why do you like WW?
A: I like it for several reasons. First of all you eat real food so it something you can do forever once you learn the diet. Secondly you can eat whatever food you want as long as you stay within your given points. They build in extra points per week so that a dinner out is doable. The diet works with real life. Lastly, it works for me!
I have tried lots of different diets over the years. This works so I am sold.

Q: Why do you do the meetings instead of just WW online?
A: There just isn't enough accountability for me with the online program. There is something about those meetings that really helps. Stepping on a scale in front of a person each week is different then weighing yourself.

Q: What are some of your favorite things to eat that are still doable on WW?
A: I have lots of things I like to eat on WW, but my "go to" things that I always try and have around the house are..

- popcorn (one whole bag is 2 pts)
- turkey hotdogs (great for a quick lunch)
- Luna Bars (these are great for on the go breakfast or lunch)
- Crystal Light lemonade
- WW ice cream candy bars (taste like a snickers ice cream bar..so good!)
- oatmeal for breakfast
- fruit
- Smartfood multi-grain popcorn snacks

Q: How tall are you and what was your starting weight and weight now?
A: I am 5'1". I started at 148 and now I'm 128. This is the first time I've seen the 120s since my wedding.

Q: Are you going to keep on going or are you sticking with your current weight?
A: I think I am going to keep on going for a while. With WW you can choose to go on maintenance and maintain your weight or continue to lose. I am pretty happy with my current weight and want to be realistic but at the same time would like to lose a little more. We'll see what happens.

Q: What kind of jeans are you going to get?
A: I think I'm getting these unless I see something better. I love the way they fit.

Thats it! If there is anything else you want to know leave me a comment and I'll try my best to answer. Have a good night!

Guess what?!

Sorry for the lack of blogging this week. I don't know what happened. It was super busy and I stayed up too late working and all of a sudden the week is almost over. Actually today is my Friday. Tonight and tomorrow I will be hanging out with two of my favorite girlfriends, Amy and Beth. There will be shopping and relaxing and probably a caboodle sighting. The last time I hung out with Amy we met Doinkey so who knows what kind of trouble we'll get in to this time.

We'll also be doing some celebrating because guess what? I MADE MY 20lb GOAL TODAY! ALLELUIA! . Since tomorrow will be full of girl time I went to my weigh in today and I did it! 20.4 lbs to be exact. I can't hardly believe it!

I must say that without the blog accountability I don't know if I would have made my goal. Thank you for all of the encouraging comments along the way, it helped more that you know! It was slightly anti-climactic at my weigh in today since I had Marlie with me and couldn't stay at the meeting. I wasn't at my regular WW meeting so I didn't get to celebrate with all the people I see each week. So, whatta ya say lets celebrate blog style with a giveaway?!

Lets refer back to my rewards board that I kind of lost sight of somewhere along the way. Remember that cool poster from etsy?



Well, leave a comment and it could be yours! I am partial to the aqua, but you can get it in a ton of other colors. Check it out. I'll announce the winner on Sunday night!

Its not on my rewards board, but I will stopping off at Nordstroms some time this week for my big reward/30th birthday present to myself. A new pair of jeans. I love jeans. Jeans that fit and don't give you muffin top and that are hemmed to the perfect length. I got the perfect pair before my high school reunion but now they are way too big so I'm off to buy a smaller pair. Did you hear that? Smaller pair! Since I did lose 20lbs. AAAHHHH! I can't believe it!

the 4th

Our holiday weekend wasn’t exactly what I had imagined. We went out of town with family and had grand plans for hours at the pool, the beach, an outdoor concert and of course fireworks.

It ended up raining almost the whole day on the 4th so going to the pool turned in to a girls trip to the outlet mall. That’s one way to make lemonade out of lemons if you ask me! Shane and Marlie headed to the beach despite the clouds so she got her fix in anyway.

The climax of the day had to have been when we almost got in a throw down with some people who moved all of our chairs that were reserving our spot for the fireworks. That’s not patriotic people, that’s just selfish. Then once we got settled in for the show the sky opened up and dumped on us. It was the kind of rain where your umbrella is rendered useless and you have no choice but to just laugh. Especially when your car is parked about a ½ mile away. Oh man, it was an adventure. You know you are around great people when a crazy weekend like we had is still fun.

FYI, I did not eat a jumbo Costco cupcake. Watching everyone else eat them all weekend almost did me in, but I did not break. I also did not partake in the potato salad or the asiago spinach dip that was hanging around at every meal. It wasn’t easy, but I know it will be worth it!

Hope your weekend was an adventure!

John + Lindsey

A few days ago I met up with John and Lindsey for an engagement session. I've known John for a long time and have loved getting to know Lindsey. When you spend any amount of time with these two it is clear that they are just perfect for each other.











Thanks guys! Looking forward to your wedding next month!

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Its Friday and you know what that means... weigh in day. I was very please to find that I lost 1.6 lbs this week leaving just 1.4 to go! I'm so close and its really nerve wracking. Especially with the holiday weekend. I am going to have to really watch what I eat and work my tail off this week to make my goal. I know it is going to be challenging since we are going to be spending the weekend with family and lots of food I shouldn't have. Don't even get me started about the gigantic cupcakes my mom picked up at Costco yesterday. Pray for me people, I'm going to need it. Have a great weekend!

growing

Remember little Graham from a few months ago?



He's growing so fast!



He had some serious snuggle time with mom...









And I couldn't resist these little buns...


Thanks Katie and Graham! See you in a few months!

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Today was exhausting. Note to self...there is a reason why contractors charge a lot to insulate your attic. Thanks to some (and by some I mean tons) of help from my brother we got it done. Blowing insulation in to an attic of a three story building with 2 people is not so easy. Lets just chalk it up to good exercise. Surely I burned some of those last few pounds off today right?

My bed is calling me. Goodnight blog land.