Parker London Rose

So to say that things have been crazy would be the understatement of the year. =)
Crazy but wonderful.
On October 12th we welcomed our new little love into the world.
Meet our baby girl...
Parker London Rose
7lbs 6 ounces 19 3/4 inches long
Crew is a wonderful big brother, very curious about her and
as of lately just wants to hug her =)
Thank you all so much for your patience during this time as
we adjust to our family of four!
I am trying to play catch up with my blogging in december,
so many beautiful weddings took place this year that I cannot wait to share! 

Baby Girl Things....

I am going to be better with sharing on this blog -lord help me! I miss blogging!!! 

So just some random thoughts... :)

I still cannot believe I am having a baby girl... 

I don't know if it will actually kick in until she is here :)

I have honestly dreamed of having a daughter for such a long time. 

I knew when I was pregnant with Crew, I just had a feeling it was a BOY. 

And I felt that god gave me that little man for a reason. =) 

He is truly the best lil boy! I am so in love with him. 

And when we got pregnant this time I really felt like it was a baby girl, 

but wouldn't let myself get too attached to the idea of a daughter. 

When we read the paper (the ultrasound tech wrote down for us what we were having) I burst into tears. 

I just couldn't believe that this was happening. 

Now that she is coming this October I was finally able to pull out all the secret lil baby girl things I had been saving for way too long :) 

 I bought the books so long ago and the headbands were the first "real" baby girl article I bought 

after we found out :)

And baby booties knitted by my late grandma. Perhaps my FAV items she will wear! 

Im not dead... just pregnant... :)

So my blog is covered in cobwebs... I cannot remember the last time I was able to blog.

But finally the cat is out of the bag.... I am not dying! I am pregnant!

And so unbelievably sick :( which is why this blog has just been so empty!

With chasing after my crazy little man, engagement season, and being so horribly

sick this pregnancy it's making blogging a low priority :(

I am finally out of my first trimester so I am hoping this sickness passes and I can catch up with

a ton of engagements that I need to blog!

I feel so grateful for my brides this year who have been so understanding in all of this!

I am so blessed by you all =)

In other news we did just find out what we are having.... a baby GIRL!

I am still in shock about it! We are over the moon so THRILLED to be having a daughter :)

It's making all this sickness bearable :)

And since I haven't posted any pics of our lil man in quite some time-here are some

shots of our preppy lil easter bunny!

New Year- New Resolutions!

Que cliche New Year's Eve blog post...

Sorry but I couldn't help myself!

I am bound and determined to keep my New Year's Resolutions this year =)

First up was creating (and keeping up with it as well) a FACEBOOK Business Page!

And I did it! It's such an awkward thing to ask people to "like you" .... but I decided that ultimately it's a great thing to do for my business :)

You can LIKE ME right HERE!

Now all my SNEAKS will be shown here so future brides make sure you follow it :)

Another resolution I made was to branch out more in different areas

of my photography business.

On it's way soon :) Valentine's Mini Sessions for kiddos!!!

I am so excited for all the ideas I have for this : ) I will be posting info soon!

Also another fun thing I decided to offer this year.... Mini Mentor Sessions :)

I have taken a few workshops which have been so amazing, but I will truly never forgot

my mentor session one on one with a photographer when I was first starting out.

It pushed me to another level and I am forever grateful for that one on one session.

Over the years I have always wondered about what other photographer's did in

so many part's of their business and wished someone would have shown me

that stuff when I was starting out... so EMAIL ME if you are interested in learning more

about these Mini Mentor Sessions :)

And a post wouldn't be complete without a photo :)....

so my lil man on Christmas Morning!

*Note that we totally wrapped up stuff he already had and had him reopen them...

he was way more into the wrapping paper than anything :) lol!

Crew's 1st Birthday Party!

*WARNING THIS POST IS LONG!!!!! (hey! my lil boy only turns 1 once :) )

I honestly don't even know where to start....

I probably started planning my son's first birthday party when he was 3 months old.

Anyone who follows me on PINTEREST knows this :)

I was pinning ideas forever for his party!

But Jeff & I finally came to the "theme" of a Surf Party for our little man!

My husband loves surfing and for his 1st birthday gift from us we had a surfboard made for him,

complete with a bright blue 1 painted on it and his baby feet

(imprints from the hospital) on the bottom of the board :)

When I actually saw the completed board I burst into tears!

I adore it! He will actually be able to ride it (in a few years) and he can keep it forever :)

So anyways that is how we knew we had to throw him a Surf Party :)

and because I am a crazy perfectionist I wanted to throw some other fun elements into it.

Hence the OMBRE Surf Theme :)

I must say the girls @ POSH PAPERIE were truly my biggest source of inspiration and help!

They contributed sooo much and I am so grateful for Elizabeth & Karrie!!!

It all started with the invite! K & E completely designed everything for this beauty!

I knew I wanted hand drawn fonts and that was about it :)

They came up with the most amazing invitation ever,

seriously so blown away by how creative they are!!!

They created Kraft Boxes (with a beautiful blue ombre address wrap)

filled them with shades of blue sand.

In each box were 3 little cards.

1 - said Crew is ONE

the next one was all the party info

the last one was a lil sizing help.

Saying our "Little Grom's sizing is... " .

We have a big guy, so he has been out of 12month clothing for quite some time :)

I knew I needed to let people know this :)

Onto all the decor details!

Ombre tables: I tied in the ombre (graduation of color) theme into the party in several areas.

3 shades of blue table cloths covered the party table.

Then I created a kraft paper extra wide runner/table cloth to go over each table as well.

I hand painted each place setting onto the kraftpaper along with shades of blue waves :)

Centerpieces: Each table had a juice jug filled with sand anchoring giant round blue balloons.

Strewn about the tables were mini blue beach pails filled with goldfish

and painted number 1's on them.

Each painted place setting had ombre dipped bamboo cutlery wrapped in twine on it.

Drink station:

We had milk, oj, apple juice, mimosas (for the adults) and chocolate milk shots!

And of course coffee, lots of coffee.

Cereal Bar:

I wanted fun foods for kids so what better than a cereal bar!

I ordered super cute cereal "bowls" trays from GARNISH

(actually I bought a ton of super cute party supplies from them!)

and had a ton of cereal complete with a jar of milk to top them off!

Pancake Station:

We had a pancake (& waffles too!) station, tons of toppings to add on :)

plus fruit cups (shark fin toppers), granola bars, and muffins!

Desserts:

My wonderful friend Melody (My Sweet & Saucy Shop) designed Crew's beautiful sweet table!

She made a super cute mini cake just for Crew, Ombre blue! Umm it was amazing!!!

Cutest thing ever!

Shark fin cake pops! Rice Krispie Treats, yummy mini cupcakes, it was all perfect :)

Mel set up the desserts on Crew's surfboard with scattered bits of sand and of course trays full of goldfish! Seriously LOVED everything!!!

The favor bags were strewn about the table. Super cute screen printed bags from

Wedding Chicks filled with gummy sharks!!! =) LOVED!

Okay finally onto the photos! Sorry again, super long post :)

Vendors :

Paperie: Posh Paperie

Desserts: My Sweet & Saucy Shop

Favor Bags: Wedding Chicks

Rentals: Found Rentals (dessert table) & Signature Rentals (tables/chairs)

The Invitation :)

Placesetting

I made the photo back drop, just photos of Crew in his 1st year of life!

Posh Paperie created the poster for me -quote from the sweet book "Love you Forever"

Cereal Bar

Shark fin fruit cups

The Birthday Boy's thrown for the day!

The super cute "Crew is One" Sign Posh Paperie made!

Cake time!

Kinda liked cake. Kinda :)