another one bites the dust...

THE BAD:

I am the next victim of the stomach funk.

Date night will likely be canceled tonight.

I feel like junk.


THE GOOD:

Shane's class was canceled last night bringing him home just before I had my
head in the toilet.

Marlie seems to be on the mend finally.

My in-laws are taking Marlie today so I can puke alone.

I dragged myself to weigh in at WW and lost 2.2 lbs for a total of 13.6 lbs lost. (say what you want but I am taking advantage of the only upside of having the stomach flu and you still have to pay if you don't go.)

All the hype about popsicles is true. They taste great when you feel sick.


a side note: The popsicles I got have jokes on the stick. How cute right? I was eating my cherry popsicle thinking how great it tasted and feeling nostalgic about childhood summers. When I got to the joke it was..

"What kind of feet are on your face?"

answer: "crows feet"

Thank you popsicle people. Thank you very much.

pukey monkey

We are slowly making our way through Marlie's first stomach bug. The poor little thing was up all night throwing up and was just a lump on my lap all day. I must confess that it is kind of nice to have a snuggly baby again, to feel her cheek against mine, but I would trade that in a second for her to feel better.

That being said if you are waiting for an email or call back from me I'll get back to you soon but give me a couple of days.

p.s - Why don't they make a clear, flavored Pedialyte? Orange seemed to be the lesser of the evils but it is still doing a number on the carpet.

storybook shoot winner!

I told Marlie she had to be completely unbiased even though her new boyfriend was up for the prize :). Here she is picking the winner out of a plastic busch stadium cup because well, thats just how we roll at 8:00 a.m. around here.


And the winner is....


Lisa Sweeney! Congratulations! Lisa has the cutest little curly headed toddler who is perfect for a storybook shoot. Can't wait Lisa! Email me and we'll talk dates.

Another new kind of shoot I am offering is a birth documentary shoot. I haven't done one of these yet but I can't wait to. I have one planned for this July. I have seen photos of photographers that I admire around the country who do these and they look amazing. You can see some examples HERE and HERE and also HERE

An incredible way to capture such an important day. If you decide to book me for a birth documentary we would get your due date on the calendar and then I would be on call around that time. Price is $250 for the shoot, and an 8"x 8" photo book containing the photos. Let me know if you have any questions or are interested.

Today we are helping friends, hangin out, layin low. I like that kind of day. Have a good one!

now announcing...

A while after Monkey Pants' 18 month photo shoot I got this idea for a great Christmas gift for Shane. What if I wrote a little story that went along with the photos and made it in to a storybook with Marlie as the main character? It was so fun to work on and I was incredibly happy with the finished product. It is hard to show it well here, but I'll try. You can click on the photos to read the writing. Here is the cover and title page...



And the pages shown as a 2 page spread...












and the back cover...



Shane was floored when he opened his gift and I loved watching him read it.

I just love this idea so I have decided to offer it as a photography package for toddlers and kiddos. A storybook shoot includes the photo shoot itself and a custom story written to go along with the photos bound in a hard bound 8" x 8" book. The cost is $250. Additional books can be purchased for $40 each.

We'll talk about your little person to give me some direction for the story. Do they have a nickname like Monkey Pants? Do they have a lovey we can incorporate in the shoot? Are they about to become a big sister or brother? There are so many different options here. I love it!

And now for the best part. Because I am so excited about this new idea I am going to give away a storybook shoot to one lucky commenter tomorrow (Tuesday) at 8:00 in the morning. So, leave a comment before then and you just might win! I'll announce the winner in the morning and tell you about another kind of shoot I am now offering. Happy commenting!

hello Friday

Yesterday I had a little visitor to the studio. Meet Marissa...



She is just a week and a half old and oh so tiny. We tried out my new prop. My MIL found this incredible antique baby scale for me. I know Marissa is a little girl, but this bluish color is my favorite new color and I love how it looks with the writing on the scale. Girls can love blue too.





I love this little monogrammed hat..


And I hadn't put a baby in the cupboard for a while so we did that too.

I can't help it, I love that shot. Welcome to this world Marissa!

Its Friday again so I went to my Weight Watchers meeting. I lost another 0.8 lb bringing the total to 11.4 lost so far. I fit in to my skinny jeans last week and man does that feel good!

Today is my work day. Monkey Pants is at Gunnie and and Papa's and I am knocking out a bunch of things that have been on my list for too long.

I'm working on a big announcement for Monday so check back then! Have a great weekend!

one on one with Mista Nug

Today I had Mista Nug in the afternoon while Marlie was napping. We don't normally get one on one time together so I took this opportunity to have a little Q&A with him to catch up.

He dressed up for our interview which I thought was very nice...

E: Hello Mista Nug. Its so nice to be able to catch up with you.
MN: Yeah, thanks for having me Miss Erin.
E: Are you nervous at all?
MN: Well, a little bit. Do you mind if I loosen my tie?
E: Of course not, go ahead.

E: So tell me what you have been up to lately.
MN: Well, I can say "Uh, OH" now, I love squealing just to hear the sound of my voice, and I am making some real progress with the sippy cup.

E: Wow that's great!
MN: Why,thank you.
E: Tell me about teething, how is that going?
MN: I don't want to talk about it. Its too painful.

E: Oh, I'm sorry I brought it up.
MN: That's OK don't worry about it.
E: Well, can you at least show us the teeth you have been working on?
MN: Sure, no problem!
E: Nice!
MN: Thanks!
E: Now, I know this is a little personal, but have you managed to keep your chunky physique over the last few months?
MN: Oh yeah. I mean just look at these legs.

MN: Check out this knee roll.

MN: Let me just go ahead and flex all my chunks for ya.

E: Wow, that is impressive.
MN: I try.
E: What do you think is your best feature?
MN: Well, I am especially fond of my feet. They are as wide as they are long and that is not something you see a lot.

E: But what about your big blue eyes?
MN: Well, they are nice too.

E: So what do you think your mom and dad are going to say about me giving you this impromptu interview?
MN: Oh miss Erin, you might be in trouble.

Laney Bug

Last weekend I got to meet the cutest little 1 year old. Meet Laney...

She is so adorable. She has similar features to my Monkey Pants so of course I was in love.


You should see the chunky legs on this girl.

Looks like her parents are in love too.

Happy 1st birthday Laney!