five.

roll that around in your head…

5.

it doesn’t seem like the day she was born was that long ago… 

 

but here we are…  she is so excited about 5!

I think it’s funny that she still calls this skirt her “birthday skirt”, still loves to wear it, and was the first thing she thought about wearing today.

(I made it for birthday #3.)

  

there have been a lot of changes, like the obvious things:  height, hair, shoe size…  talking and the like.

then there are the things that haven’t changed:  still sucks on those fingers (trying to break her of that..), she still loves to snuggle, she is the best sleeper of the bunch, the best eater too..

I pray every day to make the most of each with her.  I have never had just me + one little girl at this age, there was always another sidekick floating around.  I hope to make every moment a special one for her.  I have enjoyed her so much! 

this morning, she opened a few of her gifts.  the girl loves the lion king, make-up, and candy, so we chose just a few gifts for her to open first thing, saving a couple more for later.  she opened lion king 2 and got so excited.

“mom!  remember when I watched this a long time ago when I was 4?”

“I remember like it was yesterday…”

and that is how it goes.

she may be five, but she is still my baby..

the most perfect family photo (and a very merry christmas to you).

 

(card credits:  main card background: Purdue Avenue Etsy shop; frame: kitschy digitals; leaves and red gems: design by dani.)

almost a month ago, before sickness and the hecticness of the holiday season bombarded our home, we sat down one sunday afternoon to take a candid family photo.

how did I do it?

well, for starters, I begged my family.  told them it was all that I wanted for christmas.

then I told them that they could wear whatever they wanted.

then I told them to bring something to do.  bring a book to read, a toy to play with, or a doll to hold.

I wanted candid…

then I set up my tripod, put my remote on my camera, checked the settings, then had to add my bounce flash to get the lighting just right.

then we were in business.

106 pictures later…

we got it.

and by “it”, I mean four that I could stitch together to make my perfectly candid family photo.

took merrill from here:

took lynn from here:

(the peyton + me combo here was a close second for the final cut..)

took ashley from here:

(for the record, this is the most pleasant expression I got out of ashley the whole 10 minute ordeal.)

and, well, peyton and I were perfect together here:

and we got this masterpiece:

(you know, after photoshop magic…)

and for your enjoyment, consider it a christmas gift from me to you, a couple of outtakes:

because sitting on the couch is SO overrated.

from my family to yours:

Merry Christmas!!!

jovi smashing a cake and being pretty darn cute.

this is my friend savannah’s baby.

(you might remember sav and her gorgeous family…)

and I really shouldn’t say that this is her baby..  miss jovi turned one, and well, we all know that my favorite thing in the world these days is a cake smash…

I am not sure, but I am fairly certain that I could have another baby, hope that her eyes are this gorgeous, and I would dress her up, feed her cake, and take pictures of her all.day.long.

yes, this was quite fun. 

don’t believe me?

well take a look…

(and pardon the picture overload.  you REALLY thought I could pin down my favorites to just a few?!)

dive baby!!!  dive!!!!

and this sequence, I just couldn’t resist…

aaaand, then we were done!

quinn k.

quinn came to me with a bag of dark chocolate mint m&ms, and a request for some headshots for a audition that was taking place the next day.

how could I say no to the kid?

I knew we would have fun.

and we did.

check out his smolder…

hoping he gets HIS part!!

(watch, one day he’ll be famous.)

luke–cake smash

remember this sweet guy?

he is one.

(yes, sadly it happens to other people too.  I thought I was the only one who had children who are growing up way too fast.)

this kid was so much fun!!

he was awesome for his portraits, and totally cracked us up with his cake.  he simply couldn’t wait to dive into it.  he enjoyed every bite and lick.

post family

here is a sweet family whose pictures I took on black friday.

( I would MUCH rather be doing this, than fighting for my life at a store when I should really be asleep…)