Valentine Cuties

In an effort to keep working on being more creative this year, I decided to have a little photoshoot with the girls.  I found these adorable dresses at Old Navy and thought they would be perfect for Valentine pictures. My plan was to take the girls to the park with a few Valentine props to get some cute pictures. After nap we loaded everyone up and headed to the place I was thinking. This spot is at a small community center with great tree coverage and a playset. We go to pull in and see there is an event there, bummer but not terrible. We decide to head downtown for the park that is on the river---perfect scenery and the girls would have a nice playset to play on when we finished! We get to the first block of the downtown area and realize there is a Art Festival this weekend. Traffic, both car and foot, was terrible. We didn't even get near the park and I already knew it would be busy. We kept driving through and stopped at a little fountain in front of our hospital. The girls were not at all cooperative, upset there was no playground after all of this driving. I got a few but we decide to call it quits head back home to the playground by our house for the girls.

We pull in and there is a Lacrosse tournament of some sort happening, cars parked everywhere, games going on and big kids all over the park. We let the kids play for a bit but the older kids were just being too rough. I was annoyed, no pictures after an hour and a half, the girls were upset that they didn't get to play in the park, everyone was grumpy on the way home--myself included.

When we got home I decided to give the girls their much deserved lollipops and then try to see if I could snap a few cute pictures. The girls mostly cooperated and I got some cute pictures after all of that. Success finally!!!

In summary, we loaded everyone up, drove for an hour and a half around town and ended up getting pictures in our backyard. Such is life! At least I got some pictures to play with and had an opportunity to play around some more with Lightroom.

Enjoy some of my favorites!

I hope you are having a great weekend so far! 

Santa Claus is coming to town...

Let's hope what he brings the girls isn't based on Macie's interaction with him. This picture cracks me up every time I look at it.

Merry Christmas to you and your families. I hope you have a great holiday and get in some much deserved rest and relaxation.

Christmas Photos

It’s that time of year again when I eagerly check the mail to see if I’ve received another Christmas card from a friend or family member. Christmas cards are considered “old school” to some people and many of my friends have never mailed them but for me they mean so much. I love the time and effort people put into the photos or designs they choose. I love seeing how the families of my friends have changed over the past year and I kind of love the nostalgia of receiving real mail, mail that you want to open and is not a sales ads or car dealership flyers.

About a month ago we went to the beach to try and capture the perfect Christmas card photo. After perusing Pinterest for ideas I decided to try a beach themed photo because when in Florida, why not!? It was cool and not too hot or sunny, however it was a bit windy but we made do. We went with my neighbor and took some pictures for their family as well.

I brought the ModCloth plaid blanket scarf I received in my fall FabFitFun box and a small Christmas tree I picked up from Hobby Lobby. I added in some holiday decorations and cute Christmas outfits for the girls are we were good to go.

I didn’t get one perfect shot of both girls looking and smiling at once, that never happens anymore, but I do love these. The ones or the kids playing with the sand ended up being after we were ready to do but ended up coming out great.

Outfits: Sweaters, Off White Tutu, Corduroy Skirt (old, similar here)

From my family to yours. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

10 Years Later---We Still Do

Friday was our 10 year wedding anniversary. We went to the beach the night before with a friend to recreate some of our wedding pictures with the girls. It was crazy as we expected it to be but the girls mostly behaved and we actually got great pictures. These are a few of our favorites.

Thinking back, our wedding feels like so long ago but then again it feels like just yesterday. I wanted to share some things that I’ve learned about marriage in the last ten years.

Communication is KEY. My husband and I have been together for 19 years but even still today communication is so important. The moment I start feeling distant or disconnected I know it’s due to lack of communication in some area.

Make time to be together but also be your own person. We spend lots of time together, especially with the girls but we also have regular dates and alone time as well. It’s important to be a family together, a couple, and an individual. If we don’t get any three of these times our marriage can feel the strain.

Be grateful. I am grateful for everything my husband does and whether it’s a new diamond ring for our anniversary (oh yes he did) or my morning shake, I say thank you. I am so grateful my husband is so helpful and I am sure to let him know. No one likes to feel unappreciated.

Put the phone down. Between email, social media, news, and texting, we could easily be on our phones all night. It is so important to make time and give each other undivided attention. I have to be reminded at times to put my phone down, it's so easy to forget. The distraction on a phone doesn't show you are listening or invested.

Always kiss goodbye and say I love you.

Learn your spouse’s love language. While we were planning our wedding, the pastor that was to perform our ceremony, who is also a family friend, recommended to us The Five Love Languages. This book is eye opening. Not only did we learn about ourselves but also learned about what each other needs. It makes total sense after the fact that not everyone feels love in the same way but hearing it and reading about it was a big light bulb moment for us. We read it again about 5 years into our marriage and due to life experiences and situations, our love languages had changed. During the beginning of our marriage, “words of affirmation” was my strongest language but after a job that took me out of town often, my love language shifted more toward “quality time”. I think it’s so important to love someone in the language in which they feel loved most.

Ten years of marriage has taught me a lot about myself, about my husband, and about true love & companionship. I love him so much and look forward to the next ten years. 

2006

2016

::Macie:: One Year Old!

I'm a little late posting this but I am going to make a conscious effort to blog more often as an outlet and a little scrapbook for myself to look back on.

On March 1st, my smallest lady turned the big ONE! This last year has gone by so fast and it's getting better with every month that passes.

About a month or two ago, Ted and I decided to take a shot at getting some photos of the girls. We recently had professional photos taken and didn't really want to incur more costs for photos, plus the hubs typically does a great job. We got the girls all dolled up and headed downtown with baskets and balloons in tow. Being a mom of two, I know capturing shots of two toddlers smiling is virtually impossible so we set ourselves up for success and got some pretty great shots of them interacting with each other.


Here are some of my favorites:

We used this one for Macie's First Birthday Invitation:

Macie's birthday party was on March 5th at our house with a very loose theme of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, incorporating lots of pinks and golds. 

I made Macie a little tutu and onesie that peppered our entire house with gold glitter, (sorry hubs!). She looked simply adorable!!

We had a few close friends and a few grandparents come over to celebrate Macie. She wasn't too into the smash cake but, just like mama, was a big fan of the cake pops. (I'll post my secret to the perfect cake pops soon!)

Macie loved opening presents and is a big fan of a sandbox from her Papa. Overall the day was so great. I love when all of the littles from my friends and family can get together and play. Seeing everyone grow up together has truly been a blessing.

Happy Birthday sweet girl!

::Henley:: Pumpkin Patch

Fall in Florida isn't really like fall elsewhere around the country. There are no cool night breezes or leaves falling to the ground but there are pumpkin patches (albeit "man made" ones that are set up on busy street corners or parks but pumpkin patches nonetheless). Last weekend we took Henley to a pumpkin patch and snapped a few shots. She has been totally obsessed with pumpkins lately. She loved walking around and even picked out a small pumpkin of her own! We had just been the doctor for Henley's flu shot so this was a nice pick me up.

This weekend we went to a local park that was having a festival. There was a pumpkin patch and a train ride. Henley loved it all, she even saw a friend from school while she was there. Grandma and Aunt Allie joined us too.

 Look at that face---obsessed with "pumpas" I tell ya!

Happy Fall Y'all----now if only the cool weather would head this way!!!

Mere :-)

::Family:: Family Pictures are Here!

We have all of the pictures back from our photographer, Niesha Rose Photography, and she is amazing!!! Niesha was so patient with Henley and took some great candid shots. I would highly recommend her to anyone local looking for some awesome pictures. She gave us a lot of shots but I thought I'd share some of my favorites here:

See!! She is amazing!

For all of the family out there, we will load these to a site and you can purchase prints if you'd like. 

Christmas Countdown is on! (YAY!)

Mere :-)