{the rumors are true...}

we're moving!   This is a bitter-sweet post.  I'm thrilled my husband accepted a new job in Scottsdale Arizona, but I'm sad to leave my friends and clients here in South Carolina.  I'm also going to miss my favorite locations and all of the open spaces.  I've neglected my blog a bit since we found out, we've been so busy prepping the house and trying to figure out the logistics of our move.  I plan to stay here through May so I can work with my Spring clients.  But if our house sells sooner (which is not likely in this market), that may have to change.  I've gotten so many sweet e-mails from clients and friends who heard the news - thank you, they mean a lot to me.  It's so hard to leave my loyal clients and the friends we've made but I'm excited and a little nervous about the adventures that await me in Arizona.  I've been asked if I will come back a few times a year to do sessions and many of you have kindly offered for me to stay with you or in your guest houses!  I appreciate your offers and may have to take you up on it since I would love to come back once a  year to do sessions!  

Soooo for the next few months my life is going to be CRAZY with Jeff gone, being involved with my children's activities, getting ready to move,  keeping the house spot-less for showing, doing sessions, etc.  - so if you've e-mailed me for a session I'm sorry if I haven't gotten back to you.  Feel free to harass me a bit, since sometimes things get nuts and I may not get back to you in a timely manner.  I don't at all mind you e-mailing or calling if I haven't been able to respond to you right away.   Those of you on the wait-list for a session I will be contacting you as well.  Thanks so much for your patience!    

{already missing the fluffy, white snow...}

Yesterday a wish of my kiddos came to fruition... it snowed here in South Carolina!  They've been wishing for snow since we moved here 2 years ago.  We got snow each year in Snoqualmie so it was strange for them not to get a taste of it each year.  Tyler was so excited at the thought that we might get snow that he woke up at 3am (that's not a typo) to look outside only to be let down that there wasn't any.  He was up on and off all morning and both kids squealed with anticipation when big white flakes finally began to fall from the sky.  Of course we spent most of the day outside playing in it, eating it, riding bikes in it, throwing it, etc.  They both made a 'snow pie' - you know, a bowl full of snow and I chopped up bits for fruit and put it in the bowl (as they stirred it) and then they ate it.  So fun!  We also made real snow cones! That was such a treat - I poured FUZE juice in it and they were giggling with excitement.  Then we took breaks , came in and had hot cocoa topped with mini marsh mellows.  This was the best winter day yet!    Now it's melting and Tyler and Brielle keep asking when we'll get more.  I'm afraid this was the last of it, but we enjoyed it while it was here.    Below are a few pictures of the snow! 

The first thing both kids did.... let the snow drop onto their tongue ;-)

Tyler running to throw a snowball at daddy's truck!  I've never seen someone love the snow as much as Tyler, he couldn't get enough of it.

Brielle the problem solver:  She insisted on wearing her sunglasses so the snow wouldn't get in her eyes.  She didn't take them off until the snow stopped blowing so hard.  I couldn't resist running in to get my camera to remember this moment.   Oh and she has a spoon and an apple slice in her hand making her tasty snow pie. 

{it happened...}

Tyler lost his first tooth today.  I can't believe my little boy is growing up. 

As I pulled into the school parking lot I saw Tyler talking to Briella and I noticed something was different.  I gasped knowing what had happened.  I waved excitedly to him and mouthed the word tooth while pointing to my teeth, eager to have him jump in the car and show me his missing tooth.  When I was finally within talking distance, I whispered excitedly 'Oh my goodness look at you!'  He was anxious to tell me.  He said 'I lost my tooth mom'.  I smiled and said 'I know, I can't believe it'.  And he corrected me and said 'No I really lost my tooth.'  He told me it happened at lunch.  He was eating and he asked his friend Bobby if his tooth was gone and Bobby said yes.  Tyler looked all around where he was sitting, in his apple, everywhere and he couldn't find his missing tooth.  His teacher is fabulous and said that she's pretty sure the tooth fairy will take a note instead of a tooth since he couldn't find it.  So guess what he did right when he got home?   You got it - he wrote a note to the tooth fairy all on his own - as you can see he tried to spell everything himself.  Wow, my little boy is turning into a little man and there is nothing I can do to slow things down.  He is so proud of his toothless smile and shows me every few minutes - as if I've forgotten.  No way... before we were even out of the parking lot at school I gave him my cell phone to call both sets of Grandparents - I knew he'd want to be the one to share the exciting news.  Briella wanted to share the news with Grandma too - she said into the phone in her little voice 'My friend Tyler, has a loose tooth.  I mean a lost tooth.'  I love how she refers to her brother as her  friend.  Daddy won't be home until Friday but I was able to talk to him briefly and tell him about Tyler.  He requested a picture - so I'm blogging it in hopes that he can see it tonight.  Excuse the poor quality of the image - we were inside in low low light on this dark and rainy day so I maxed my ISO.  Thanks for taking the time to read through this post.  It's such an emotional milestone for me - I'm sure those of you who are parents can relate . ;-)

{December 2008 Synopsis ~ Overdue}

I can't believe it's already January of the new year!   Wow, where has time gone?  Well I thought I'd dedicate this post to the last month of 2008.  What a month with Christmas, family, friends, and all of the festivities that go along with the holiday's and leading up to New Year's.  In summary:

- We had a new house guest this year.  A silly looking but irresistibly fun little elf named Zig Zach (the kids named him immediately - Tyler came up with Zach and Briella came up with Zig so we combined the two - a nice compromise).  The kids miss him terribly but we're hoping he'll be back to visit us next year. 

- Tyler has his first loose tooth - makes me a bit teary to think not long ago we were counting each tooth as they came in.  Now we're counting how many loose teeth he has.  Why is this so emotional for me?  He's so excited he can hardly stand it while I'm wishing I could make time stand still.

-  Brielle at age three was so into the magic of Christmas this year.  To her  everything was 'beautiful'.  And I mean everything - from the partially squished grasshopper she brought me to nurse back to health, to the cracked Christmas ornament of the Seattle Ferry.  I loved her sincere expressions of how everything was so amazingly beautiful - she'll say it in soft whisper as if she's almost lost her breath it's so stunning.  And Santa brought her some pink princess shoes and when we ask her where Santa left them, she replies with her cute little lispy sing songy voice, 'he put them in a big thSock (sock)' ~aka her stocking.  

-We also talked to both kids about why we celebrate this amazing holiday so they were reminded of the real reason.   

-  We had family stay with us in the beginning of December and the end of December - such a great way to start the beginning and end of the month.  Wish we could see them more.

-  We had our first ever family portrait done!  Woo hoo!!  I'm so bad, I'm never in pictures since I'm the one behind the lens.  So this was fun for me even though I was still the photographer ;-)  We used some of the pictures on our holiday card.   And I'm hoping to take more pictures of our family together in the future, this is time we can't get back so I want to capture it now.

Overall we had a wonderful end of 2008 and hope to have more fun memories in 2009.  I also wanted to thank my clients for such a wonderful 2008 - I couldn't have imagined such  a great year, meeting so many new people and their beautiful children.  Thank you! 

Happy New Year!

Here's a compilation of  images from December - just a taste of the final month of 2008. 

And our Holiday Card: Front

Card: Inside Spread

Card: Back {couldn't resist including the dork factor ;-) }

{Halloween Snipet}

I wanted to post these sooner but you know how it goes this time of the year for me...  Anyway, here's a couple of pictures from Halloween in the early evening at the club.  I only had my camera out for a brief moment and then it was time for me to put it aside and enjoy Halloween with my kiddos.  They had a blast with their friends on the hayride that followed.  Brielle was so tired she leaned on me and Mrs. Tonya during they hayride trying to keep her eyes open.  She's a trooper (or just stubborn) and refused to go home before everyone else.  Tyler was full of excitement and energy - he probably could've stayed up all night.  Oh and in case you're wondering Tyler was Optimus Prime {a transformer} and Brielle was a ladybug.  I only got a few photos of the kids at the club before things got busy but here's some of them.

Above:  Hayden playing the bean bag toss.  Love his expression. 

Below:  The pumpkin and gourd sling-shot! 

{the princess & the lizard, a heart-felt devotion}

I'm a little bummed tonight...several of my sessions have been post-poned due to this rainy weather.  I love the rain, but when it interferes with this crazy time of the year it makes things a bit of a challenge.  I want my sessions to turn out the best they can and rain is not going to make for a great session.  Anyway, I'm excited for my upcoming sessions and trying my hardest to find spots for make-ups.  For those of you who have been post-poned thanks for hanging in there and being patient. :)

So my little girl has a strong adoration for animals, insects, lizards, pretty much anything living.  I've never seen anything like it - well actually maybe once.  She and my client Elizabeth share the same deep affection for lizards- remember her?  She so reminded me of how Brielle will be a few years from now.  Anyway, Brielle talks about her lizards every day, she'll  dance around in her Cinderella dress and stop to gently catch a lizard and giggle with excitement prancing around holding and singing to it.  We have 2 or more that live on our screen porch and she talks incessantly about them (they are all named Briella too, a little confusing to me, but I just go with it).  Every day on the playground at school Brielle is on the look out for ladybugs, lizards and frogs.  And she pleads with tears running down her cheeks to keep them, 'but they like me, they want to be with me, I love them'.  It honestly tugs at my heart and I give in and let her take the lizards home to our screen porch.  Today we found a few on the playground and when I suggested she leave him there so she can see him tomorrow the tears began to flow and she ran away to the corner of the playground.  Her affection for these little green guys is so strong that I get sucked in.  I know, I'm weak....but you have to see her - it's painful and heartbreaking.  Since I didn't have a container today to transport the lizard in, she assured me she'd hold the lizard in her hand in the car all the way home - I knew she would - she's so careful with them. She even carried him on our walk (she sat in the stroller and sang 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' and talked to the lizard) and of course she wanted to share her 'pet' with the next door neighbors - Ben, Pat and Kristin.  Needless to say, we have more lizards on our screen porch now. 

She also loves grasshoppers and hand feeds them flowers - which they eat, at least they do for her.  It's amazing to see their little mouths munch on the pedals as Brielle softly talks to them and encourages them.  There's no way I can tell her not to touch them when she has this strong connection with little creatures.  I just hope she never picks up a snake - I've warned her about them since there are cottonmouths and rattlers here.  Anyway, I couldn't resist posting these pictures I snapped of Briella holding and singing to one of the lizards she found moments earlier.  Notice the Cinderella dress, she strips her clothes off the moment she gets home and puts on one of her many dress-up dresses or tutu's.  This day was no different. ;-)