Last month I blogged about Reflection as part of my blog circle’s theme. This month our theme is Anticipation. Being a maternity photographer, this was a naturally easy theme to draw inspiration from. I guess I could have stepped outside of the box and really reached for something else with this theme, but I love shooting pregnant mamas to be and it just made sense to shoot what I love.

Check out this mama. She is going to give birth to a sweet baby boy in about 2 weeks. Talk about anticipation! Both of these shots are a bit different from how I usually shoot maternity sessions, but I loved the way they turned out.

After you check my photos out, head over to see what Carrie from Twelve Bridges Photography has done this month!

First off, I have to thank everybody who made it out to the grand opening event. I was not expecting nearly as many people to show up that did, and I am so grateful for all of you. This studio has been a dream of mine for years, and now it is finally a reality! Finding an open retail space in the Claremont Village is not easy, let alone one that would be perfect for a natural light photography studio! I jumped on this space as soon as it became available.

My husband is amazing, he spent almost 2 weeks straight doing everything to get the studio ready to open. He put in new floors, baseboard, painted, cleaned, etc. My dad ran electrical work that was desperately needed as well. I have the most amazing support system of friends and family who came and helped out before the grand opening. Here are some pictures of the journey from beginning to end. (well, almost end..I still have a few things I want to do in there, like get my sign!)

“Before”

This was 3 nights before the grand opening. My husband and sister were keeping me company while I painted my ikea expedit bookshelf.

“after”

Thanks to my mom for providing refreshments!

view from the front door.

<3 Chevron print!

Canvas wall

Look at baby Hunter! He has sure grown up from his newborn photo behind him

My hubby and I!

Yours truly.

Coffee table, album and book sample.

This is part of the adorable village right outside of the studio. I love downtown Claremont! It has so much character and is perfect for a photography studio.

I posted last month about this blog circle that I am a part of. The theme this month was reflections. I had this great vision of taking pictures of my kids jumping in puddles after the rain. Well, we didn’t get much rain last month. Then when we did have rain, of course my kids did not want to cooperate. I think I’ve ruined them with too many pictures.

I solicited the help of my husband for this little project. Those are his lovely eyes (well, eye) in the photo below. If you look closely, you can see my reflection in his eye, along with the sunset in the background.

I also thought this might be a fun one to share.

I can’t wait to see what the fabulous Kristy from Studio Six Photography has for us!

I am part of a group of fabulous photographers from around the country who have embarked on a little photo adventure together. Each month we will post based on a theme and photograph based on our interpretation of that theme. Sounds fun, right?! I will link to another photographer at the bottom of each of my entries, and hope that you will keep our blog circle going by following the links to each photographer in the circle.

So the first month’s theme is Discovery. I will admit this month snuck up on me and I did not get to shoot the vision I had for discovery. The photo below is a few months old, but I knew it would be perfect for this month’s theme. I remember this little guy’s mama was telling me this was his first time sitting in grass. How cool was it for me to be there, capturing him “discovering” grass?

Now click here to see what Brie from Brie Homer Photography has for us this week!

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I haven’t shares pictures of my own kids since my youngest was born, and that was 8 months ago! Here are a few recent favorites of my own boys <3

Here is Kingston. He turned 2 in late September. He loves all things Buzz Lightyear, cars, and Mickey. He also loves, I mean LOVES, food. Lots of food. He is my very own sour patch kid.

Here is Isaac, he is 8 months now. He is growing much too quickly for me. He crawled at 6 months and is pulling up to a stand and starting to cruise now. He is eager to keep up with his big brothers and is the happiest baby I’ve ever met. He doesn’t have any teeth yet though!

And here is Eric. He turned 4 in May and is in preschool. He just finished playing t ball, and played basketball before that. He keeps us VERY busy and has his own opinion every everything now. It’s so fun watching him grow into his own personality.

This post is long overdue. I had my baby boy on February 2nd at 9:47a.m. I started having contractions when I woke up on Wednesday morning, and by the time I got to the hospital, I was ready to push! It was a quick delivery to say the least.

We are absolutely smitten with Isaac! He makes our family of five complete! Eric is a pro at this big brother thing, but Kingston is taking a while to come around with Isaac bumping him out of the “baby” spot when he was only 16 months old

Anyways, here are a few (ok, more than a few) pics of the little guy.

My 3 boys

We have lots to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Most importantly for me this year, the opportunity to know Ralph Leary. My husband’s grandfather was an amazing man who was loved and cared for by so, so many people.

Grandpa Ralph passed peacefully in his sleep late this evening, and I feel so blessed we were able to be with him one last time today on Thanksgiving. My children will not remember any of this, but it meant so much to him to see them again today.

I owe him more than this, but this is all I can give for now. May you rest peacefully grandpa Ralph. We have a new angel in Heaven watching over our family. We love you and will miss you so much.

My mom is a good great cook. I really should have paid more attention to her in the kitchen while I was growing up. Now that I have my own family to feed, I find myself barking up her tree for her recipes all the time. My attempts don’t always turn out quite as appetizing as hers, but I’m getting there.

Tonight I made a crowd favorite. Lasagna. This recipe takes a long time, so I only make it 1-2 times a year. I would share the recipe on here, but my mom might kill me if I did.

So just enjoy the picture. Is your mouth watering yet?

We had company over for dinner tonight. I served Eric’s plate and sat it at his table (when his friends are over, they get to sit at his kids table) to cool down while I stuck the bread in the oven. I returned to the dining room to find Kingston digging into Eric’s plate. No wonder why he was being so quiet…;) Guess he is a fan of grandma’s recipes too!

This is definitely my favorite time of the day. I got lucky today and Kingston napped twice. That just does not happen anymore. I left him on my bed while I started a load of laundry, and came back to find him passed out. It wasn’t even noon! I sure was not going to wake a sleeping toddler though! (Oh gosh it’s hard to refer to my baby as a toddler)

I’m convinced it has something to do with Saturdays. I am just so busy and have so much going on during the weekends, that I forget to blog. Alas, no excuses. I owe 2 blog posts today (again..).

This is going to be short and sweet. We haven’t had a family photo taken since I was pregnant with Kingston! Horrible, I know!

At the photographer’s shoot out I talked about last week, Kristin Carlson was so kind and captured some pictures of our family. I love seeing my kids through other photographer’s eyes! She even managed to get one of all of us looking, with nobody crying!

Thanks Kristin!