{Brielle – the ‘New Face’ of Rocker Baby Inc. – limited time Sale!}

I'm giddy with excitement about working with the talented Matilda, the amazing designer and creator of Rocker Baby Inc.  If you haven't seen her site, check it out.  Adorable clothing!  So when she contacted me - I was already aware of her line and was squealing with excitement when she mentioned that she wanted me to photograph her clothing.  Then when she said she wanted Brielle to be the New Face of Rocker Baby Inc - I was through the roof excited!  Brielle doesn't quite understand - I don't really tell her too much about the business side (ya know, seeing that she's 5 years old lol) and where her pictures are going to be.  She just loves wearing  pretty new cloths, and playing in front of the camera.  She'll see me working on the pictures here and there and get a kick out of some of them (ones with silly expressions).  And she's happy just with that.   For Rocker Baby Inc  I got the opportunity to use my studio equipment again - which has been so fun for both Brielle and I.  Here's a peak at some of the new pieces released by Rocker Baby for the spring!

Note:  Right now Rocker Baby Inc is having a 'limited' time sale it ONLY lasts till tomorrow April 4th!  20% off all items using code:  NEW2011 at checkout.  Check it out!!

{FaithWorks4U – vintage style with a modern twist}

Tonight as Jeff and I were painting our bed {yes, I'm finally doing it!!  wood color to black! yay!}  we were talking about life and our reason for being here.  I know pretty deep for a night of painting.  But it had me thinking...what is my reason for being here, on this earth?  And what is it that I'm destined to do?  I was at a loss.  There's part of me that thinks I'm here to do something related to adoption {since I was adopted}.  I don't know what though.  Then I thought, is it something that I'm doing...being a mom?  The pictures below make me wonder if that's why I'm here.  I love watching my kids grow, to see them learn, to see them soaking up life.  It's such an amazing and surreal gift.  Someone I've created is living a life, laughing, crying, and growing into someone whose destiny is still unknown.   I don't know, but it has me thinking, wondering and questioning why we're here.  Why I'm here.   I know I'm going to drive myself crazy thinking about it.  I just hope I accomplish what I was put on this earth to do before my time ends.  Have you ever thought about why you're here?  It's wild to think about it but we all have a reason for being here.

Okay, on to something lighter and more fun :)  I have to say....I'm in love with this little retro outfit made by the talented FaithWorks4U.  I think it speaks for itself.  This night of photographing is one I'll never forget, it was the start of Brielle's adoration of the Hula Hoop.  Hopefully the images show the fun we had during this shoot.  Thank you Faith for sharing your beautiful talents with me - I can't say enough about your retro fun designs. The dress Briella is wearing is appropriately named the '1970's Style Retro Hula Hoop' dress.

{sometimes you just need a good cry…}

This was how I felt today.  Okay, not this bad but close.  Here's the short story:   I came home from seeing 'Limitless' (which I super enjoyed) with some girlfriends.  I was tired and the bed looked so comfy I didn't think I'd be able to find the energy to wash my face, get into my comfy's,  and make it to bed.  I just wanted my pillow.  But before I could do anything Jeff and I went in to check on the kiddos when we heard a squish, squish in the carpet and our feet felt wet.  It was 10pm, I was tired and this was waking me right up.  Jeff and I grabbed as many towels as we could and covered the floors with them.  It was still soaking!  We unloaded Tyler's bookshelf and moved it to the other side of the room.  Then it was time to wake up the kids.  Brielle was sleeping in Tyler's room (she loves to be close to him at night) so we carried each of them to our beds and snuggled them in.  It was time for the loud carpet cleaner to come out and suck up as much water as I could.  2 hours later and two buckets full of water later, I was done.   Wide awake but done.  This morning the carpets were still soaked so I had to call in the Professionals.  So right now our house is in disarray.  But we're getting all the water-damage fixed.  The flood man told me the 'Water Damage Gods were watching over me last night' - he was amazed how much I was able to extract last night.  Yay for that late night second winds lol.   Anyway, it's amazing how water can damage things - and fast.  Anyway, I'm spent but happy it wasn't worse.   Happy and thankful for so much.

Photo:  This picture was taken just after Brielle hurt herself from falling, her emotions were so raw and my camera was right there - I just had to take a picture.  I feel her pain when I look at it.

{Palm Tree Princess Spring 2011}

You may remember a post I did last fall for Palm Tree Princess for their Fall/Winter Line.  Lots of wonderful goodies for your little one.  Well it's time... she's releasing her Spring/Summer line now!  And she has a great line up of fun colors, light fabrics and pretty ruffles {who doesn't love ruffles?!}.  And the beautiful hair accessories are by www.smittenforyou.com .  I just love them!!  I worked with Brielle & Ava on these images and they were such a fun, great team!!  Brielle was goofy as ever - she gets really silly during sessions, especially if she has another person to be silly with.  I love the girls interaction and can't wait to photograph them together again for more designers.  Thank you so much to the talented Desiree, creator of Palm Tree Princess,  for working with me again.  I feel so blessed to work with such talented, fun and creative designers.

{I will never forget tonight...}

I will never forget tonight.  The passion my little girl had.  The joy on her face.  The squeals and giggles that emanated from her little body.  The sun filtering through her hair.  Her little freckles sprinkled across her nose.  Tonight was special.  I've never seen this kind of joy from Brielle.  She's a passionate child but tonight was different.  It was pure joy and proud accomplishment.  We did a session for a designer...{FaithWorks4U} and I decided to bring a brand new hula-hoop (unseen by Brielle prior to our session).  She screamed with excitement and was determined to use it and show me that she could use it.  After a handful of unsuccessful attempts I reassured her that it takes time to learn how to use it.  She still had a determined smile on her face and kept at it.  I watch and I soaked in the smile on her face, the look of resolve in her eyes, her mouth propped open as she tried and tried to keep the hula-hoop going and her laughter when she got it to go around her more than 3 times.  We cheered, laughed and stayed in the old lot we had occupied until the sun went down.  She begged, 'one more time', 'just one more time' more times than I can count and I couldn't resist but say yes.  This moment will be gone in mere seconds, I wanted to soak it in as much as she did.  The sun had set by the time we got home.  I had a proud and excited girl buckled in chatting about how she wanted to do it as soon as we got into the house.  And again after dinner.  And again after her bath.  I loved it.  At dinner she said 'I found something I'm really good at.  And I love it!'  I melted at her words, her excitement, the expression on her face...at her.  I will never forget tonight.

{smell of St. Patty's Day is in the air}

Yesterday morning, before the sun rose but after Jeff returned home from his early morning run, a leprechaun's helper stopped by our house to spread the cheer of St. Patrick's Day.  The kids and I crept out our front door and to our Courtyard gate to find a big green gift bag hanging on the gate.  The kids were giddy and I was excited at this unexpected surprise.  Inside were treasures - gold chocolate coins, green necklaces, green glow sticks, a shamrock pillow, and several cute St. Patrick's day pins.   How cool is that?!   It's like getting 'Booed' on Halloween but it's on St. Patrick's Day!  I love it!!  So we got to be the Leprechaun's helper before the sun rose this morning.  So fun for the kids to participate in this.  Thank you to whoever started this in our neighborhood!

Here's a copy of the letter that goes in the gift bag that includes the Legend and directions on how to help the Leprechaun continue to spread the word about the Leprechaun and his legend.  I'm so happy someone started this - so festive and fun!!

And below is a picture of our pup getting into the St. Patrick's Day spirit.  The kids put this cute hat on him and he amazingly kept it on long enough for me to get my camera out and snap a picture.  Love the look on his face - clearly confused (lip curl) and unenthusiastic over it all.  He can't see anything with all that hair in his eyes...he's in need of a trim. ;o)

Hope you and your family are getting into the St. Patrick's Day spirit.  {Side Note:  Since it's Dr. Susses Birthday today, the kids school is honoring this day & celebrating by serving green eggs, ham and french toast...green!  More green gearing up for St. Patrick's Day.  How fitting!}  :)

{Pish Posh Girls!}

Busy.  That's been my life (I know it's a word most everyone can use to describe life today).  Nothing new just repeating myself.  I've begun an new business venture to add to my repertoire.  I'm crazy I know - but a few nights ago I woke up at 1am and couldn't go back to sleep.  My mind was racing...it wouldn't stop and I came up with some business ideas that I'm ridiculously excited about!  I wish I didn't need any sleep at all so I can just create, work and accomplish the goals I have for my current and new business venture.  This new business direction is catered toward helping other photographers....design stuff.  Stuff I love, but haven't had time or energy to think about.  I'm working on a new blog for it and I'm soooo excited for it's release, but it may be a while since I'm in the middle of lots of projects!  One is working with the many talented designers that I'm so lucky to have an opportunity to photograph and work with (something I never want to stop doing).  I'm so excited that I got to work with the amazing talent behind Pish Posh Girls, Laura Owens.  She founded her clothing company based on her obsession for beautiful fabrics, colors and stylish interiors.  She's created some of the most beautiful heirloom quality pieces.  And let me say first hand, these heirloom quality dresses are made with amazing attention to detail.  The colors she's chosen for this part of her clothing business is perfection.  I really can't say enough about her work.  I'm truly amazed by the talent I come in contact with and I feel so lucky.  Check out her boutique.  Note:  The dress Brielle is wearing is limited so keep that in mind if your interested in ordering this particular dress.

{Happy Heart Day!}

It's Valentine's Day!  It's been fun, festive, sugar filled and it's done.  Have I told you how much I love celebrations?  I love them.  I will celebrate anything and everything right now since my kids eat it up and so do I.  It makes life fun and hopefully makes wonderful memories for my kids.  We began the day giddy, excited for school - gathering our treats and teachers gifts and heading out the door ready for classroom parties.  Tyler had a 'Publishing Party' first thing in the morning - he's been busy studying Tyrannosaurs Rex Dinosaurs for the past three weeks.  Then there was a parade at school - the 4th graders made floats of each county in Arizona and revealed them in the parade.  The kids loved it.  Finally it was Brielle's class party.  The hair image shown below is a little girl's in Brielle's classroom.   Her mom is sooo creative and does the cutest things to her daughters' hair.  I had to snap a shot of the heart she made out of braids - how clever!  Once we got home we got the party started at home.  I was as excited as they were.  I made a scavenger hunt for them and in the end they found a little gift (markers with roller stamps on the ends).  They loved it so much they created 5 more scavenger hunts for me!  Yep, for me!!  So sweet and so fun to see their cute clues.  Then we sat down to a special dinner.  Brielle is just like me....she loves presentation.  She was so excited about the place settings she didn't want to unwrap the silverware of its twine.  She requested ones from the drawers so she wouldn't mess up the one next to her plate.  After our tummies were full we got started on making sugar cookies for some friends.  Brielle made almost the whole thing herself and Tyler sampled the dough giving his thumbs up before he left the kitchen to play with the puppy.  Jeff got home late :( but he was sure to give the sleeping kids kisses when he got home. Some to me too :).  Hope you had a great Valentine's Day with you and your family.

{hearts, candy & sweet cheek smiles}

Oh Valentine's Day is almost here!!  Are you as excited as I am?  Not for the gifts . We don't do gifts - my hubby & I.  Instead we make it a fun celebration for the kids.  I had sooooo many ideas for crafting, gifting, ect. but business commitments didn't allow any time for all the things brewing in my head to experiment and play with (boo hoo) :(  But we are getting ready for tomorrow around here. We have garland strung, valentine cards filled out, teachers gifts made (or in the process), baking, and drawing.  We'll be up late tonight :)  The kids love it!!  Tomorrow Jeff is working late so the kids and I are going to have a special dinner together.  We're going to make placemats, light candles, and eat heart shaped foods.  Most likely we'll make mini-heart shaped homemade pizzas so the kids and put whatever toppings they want on their pizza :) & a green salad - not sure how to make that with a Valentine flair but I'll think of something.  And for desert, we'll enjoy the heart shaped sugar cookies we made today.  Ty & Brielle can't wait!  Me too!

Well I hope you're day is full of wonderful moments with your family & loved ones.  Happy Valentine's Day to you all.

{desert sunset with an itty bitty newborn}

I've got newborns on my mind today since I'm photographing one later this afternoon.  I love newborns - their so squishy, squeaky, scrunchy!  And I get my newborn fix when I get to photograph them.  Ah... I miss that stage.  It was a hard stage but I loved every minute of it.  I knew my babies would grow in a blink of an eye and now I'm a mom of an 8 year old and 5 year old.  How did that happen?!  Each stage goes by so quickly yet when you're in it, sometimes it feels like a lifetime {the sleepless nights, the rocking -that I miss so much now, house chores wearing my baby in the Bjorn}.  New moms, treasure these times because you will miss them {really, you will}.  I do.

Not to long ago I photographed this little newborn and his family.  We ended our session with some family photos in the desert nearby.  Sadly this desert is no longer...they've cleared it to build houses :(  My heart sank when I saw that my favorite little desert space was gone - I know, there's a lot more desert around here.  But this was one I had grown to love.  So now these photos are even more special to me since they are the last pictures I have of this beautiful desert area...and I was lucky that I got to photograph this beautiful baby their.