Christmas at our house...

Our Christmas Card (for my cyber friends)

The Front

Inside Spread-It was a wide format and opened like a book.
Back

Our Christmas House

The mat as you walk in the house...

Little snowman that greets everyone!

Little fun with lights and garland on the armoire.
Snowflakes as you enter the dining room--these were supposed to be a photo prop, but so far they haven't been used!
The mantle...
My short & stumpy and tall & skinny snowmen... Kind of remind me of myself and Kev. LOL!

Our Christmas cards--I love getting cards! And it is such an honor to have created at least 1/2 of these...

The tree in all it's glory!Fun with the tree...

Our Christmas Morning

The kiddos in their new pj's that daddy picked out.

Maddie with her new cell phone walkie-talkies.
Haidyn opening her new skates-just like big sister's!

Caleb on his new little 4-wheeler!

After opening gifts it was off to family--we did both in one day! So it was exhausting, but overall it was a great Christmas! Merry Christmas everyone and Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Computer Woes

Well, I'm writing to you from my old computer... The PC. My Mac (the computer with editing software)has been giving me issues since Friday. Every day is makes me do a hard shutdown, continually-all day long... It does it for a while and then it would let me use it later in the day. BUT today, it hasn't let me use it all day. It makes me shut it down almost immediately after booting it up. I've tried to run MacJanitor, but it never gets to complete it because it shuts down.

I guess I'm going to have to take it to the Apple store, which stinks because we didn't buy it brand new... So no warranty. Perfect timing... I still have two sessions to edit from this month and several that will be placing orders soon. Hopefully everyone understands and knows that I am doing what I can.

If anyone is a Mac expert and has some tips, I would be more than grateful!

I hope everyone is having a great Christmas Eve. We went to the service at church and it was great (as usual). We even got to see Jason Castro sing!

Well, if I don't blog tomorrow, have a Very Merry Christmas! And remember the Reason for the Season!

Almost a family of four...

It won't be long and this family will be welcoming baby girl #2 into their family. You probably remember baby girl #1 from a session I did with her in September. We actually went to the same location so we could do a little bit more of an urban style...

Meet the G Family.


Had to try my new favorite pose...


Princess A was so sweet loving on daddy...


You think she's a daddy's girl?


Look! They painted my doors... Still a cool color and it really flowed with their outfits!


Some mommy lovin'!


Daddy's Princess



Fun on the steps!

And then our session was over after the stairs because the Princess scraped her back on the steps and I broke out the blue sucker--instant tear dry-up!


Thank you G Family! I can't wait to meet the new princess in January.

Free Family Fun...

Well, that's what we were planning on, but after driving an hour to Grapevine, spending $10 on parking, $21 on Santa pictures, and $14 on drinks-yes, drinks!, it wasn't quite so free. BUT... The looks on the kids' faces will be priceless memories for the rest of our lives. It was great to take off from the grind of the preparation for the holidays!

Here's a series of our evening...


The girls.


The boy hamming it up... as usual.


Watching the trains.


Mommy and her girls.


The Daddy and his boy being silly.


Daddy and his princesses.


Beautiful tree and lights!


Mommy and her little man.


Extreme bodyless close-ups--courtesy of daddy.



The boys...


This is Jasper, he was looking for Santa!


Almost done... The kiddos on the sleigh.


Before we knew it, several hours (and dollars) had passed and it was time to go home. I bet we made it to 635 and 2 our of the 3 were out. Then by 75, the last one was gone too. So it was peace and quiet for mommy and daddy who were able to carry on adult conversation the rest of the way home.

Be sure to scroll down for another post from this morning...

Miracle Baby

Yesterday, I got the honor of photographing a true miracle baby. He's not my first to photograph, and I'm sure not the last. His story is different in that he was born when his mommy was only 24 weeks pregnant. He was born weighing 1.8 lbs and was only 12.5 inches long. He spent a long journey in the hospital and after 5.5 mos. he was able to come home. Awesome, huh?! I'm not sure what he weighs now, but about a month ago he was 11 lbs. 2 oz. and was 21 3/4 long. He is a little over 7 months, but his adjusted age is only a little over 3 months. It's just an amazing story. He still has along road ahead of him and I know his family appreciates all the prayers in the past and welcomes prayers for the future.

So here he is...

He gave me the biggest smile!


He even liked my soft blanket and basket.


He admired the Christmas tree... I'm sure he's the best present his parents have ever gotten!


Then the little guy just tuckered out... So mommy got some loving time with him.


And then we decided to let him finish his nap...


Thank you R Family... He was precious!

Someone is 7!!

I can't believe it, but I have a 7 year old! It just doesn't seem right... 7 years ago from yesterday, Kevin and I were bringing our first baby into our lives. Almost a 12 hour labor, oxygen for heartrate dips, having my bed turned almost upside down for my own dips, vaccuum to get her out, resusitation-sp?, etc. Quite a ride... But she was perfect... All 6 lbs. 2 oz. and 18 inches of her! And then less than 24 hours later she was being whisked away to the NICU for extremely elevated bilirubin levels (for an infant of her age). In the NICU it was discovered that she had an enlarged liver, enlarged kidney, 2 holes in her heart, a PDA, and a blood disorder that no one could figure out. Those were probably the longest 9 days of my life while we lived in the nearest hotel to the hospital. It took 11 months to diagnose her blood disorder, but once we found the right doctor, he knew within the first couple of visits with us (after testing).

Fast forward 7 years and you'd never know what she had been through... She's happy, healthy and spunky! 7 going on 17!

We had just a little get together last night at our humble abode with family. Here's just a little bit of our fun! And yes, these pictures were taken in straight auto... Pinlights and all--maybe even a red eye or two, sometimes you've just got to take the day off from full manual!


Birthday girl blowing out her candles.


Little man relaxing!


Little Man and Daddy playing.


Mommy and the birthday girl with little sissy... And you can see Little man off in the corner peeking to get in the pic too!


My mom, dad, brother & his wife & their son and my sister chowing.


Cousin B... You've seen him several times before. He was being shy at first!


Cousin T eating with Aunt K- and unknown name baby C.


Birthday girl, little sissy and daddy being silly.


Little man stealing the show with his ham it up smile!


Cousin H and Cousin W eating.


We had a great time and I wanted to thank everyone for being a part...