Gosh I keep finding all these photos from fun photoshoots I had, that I never got around to posting on my blog! I’m so sorry! Here is a family session I did that was so fun. I love it when I get to take pictures of little girls. Even if they’re running around, they’re still just so sweet and girly.

A couple of weeks ago I was walking around the house picking stuff up while Kyler was napping and Ryan was playing on the computer, and realized that I needed to document the “stuff” in my life–the little things that tell a story about my day-to-day activities. I wish I had the foresight (and the time) to do something like this every day, but I figure once every month or two will be good!

1. A binky sitting on top of our water cooler. Kyler, at 2 and a half years old is still using a binky…and is VERY much attached to it. We keep saying that we need to get rid of it, but neither Matt nor I are feeling quite ready to deal with taking it away from him yet.

2. Ryan’s potty training chart: At 4 and a half Ryan is still having some trouble in the potty-training department. So every time he goes in the toilet he gets a sticker and then various prizes every time he gets 5 stickers. Don’t you love the smudgy fingerprints all over the chart and my fridge?

3. Ryan’s special present from Santa Claus: On Christmas morning Ryan found this present wtih a note attached from Santa, telling him that once he had gotten 10 stickers on his chart he would be able to open his present. So about 30 DAYS later he got to open it…yes 30 days. Like I said, we’ve been having lots of trouble with that kid. Inside was a big Play-Doh set.

4. A pomegranate: I LOVE pomegranates and look forward to eating one or two every year around this time. This was my second one, and I was hesitating cutting into it since the night before I had sliced my finger cutting into the first one.

5. A beautiful winter star on my pantry door: My sister-in-law, Maquel, made me a set of these stars for Christmas–one for each month of the year. They are SO cute and make me so happy to look at!

6. Ryan’s project from preschool that morning: They were learning about the 5 senses.

7. What was on the menu for dinner that night: Although we ended up getting pizza because when the time came to actually make dinner I just wasn’t in the mood. Although I did make this a couple of nights later and loved it!

Tonight is the first night in literally months that I’ve felt like I can breathe a little bit and do something for ME. Which means I’m getting the itch to photograph a lot! I’ve been working on so many projects for so long, teaching classes, and trying to get through the holidays that my camera has taken a little bit of a back seat.

I also realized today that there are a few sessions I did before Christmas that I never had a chance to post. So here is one that I felt very priveledged to do. My dear friend Heather called me to take pictures of her two precious girls. They were ADORABLE and the session was so wonderful.

Little Hailey was born with some health issues and has a long road ahead of her, dealing with a variety of surgeries and procedures. Her little spirit is so strong, though, and her parents are absolutely amazing. I was just so impressed with their little family!

On Saturday I had two newborn shoots back to back. It was a long day, but so fun to take pictures of these sweet babies! It made me so excited to take pictures of my own! So here are some previews for their moms. The first one was the cutest baby boy and the second one was a darling girl (who is the first girl in her family and has FIVE big brothers!):

And baby girl…

Today was one of those days where I was in the mood to go NOWHERE. You know those days…where the thought of putting on socks, shoes, coats, hats, etc. and then loading kids in and out of the car just makes you crazy? So we stayed home all day, which meant I had to find some activities for the kids to do, rather than just tell them “go play with your toys.”

So I read about “carpet skates” on this blog, and thought, “what the heck? I guess they’re worth a try.” So I attached wax paper to the boys’ feet using rubber bands and let them “slide” around on the carpet.

All in all a pretty good success. It sometimes amazes me how easily entertained kids are. But then at other times I’m also amazed how UN-entertained they can be. Ryan LOVED his new carpet skates and wore them until they got holes in the toes (which was bound to happen), so instead I put plastic grocery bags on his feet and he literally cried when I wouldn’t let him wear them to bed tonight.

Kyler, on the other hand, thought it was cool for about 10 minutes, but then got bored, as evidenced below:

It seems like every year I get excited to make resolutions for the new year. I pretty much never keep my resolutions past February, but at least I have good intentions! This year I’ve been dragging my feet a little bit, not really feeling motivated to do anything to better my life this year. So last night for family night we sat down and talked about goals with Ryan. We explained to him what goals were and asked him what the goals should be for each member of our family. Here’s what he came up with:

Goals for Ryan:

1. Not poop in my pants (yes, it’s been almost a year of potty training and we’re still dealing with this DAILY.)

2. Try to make Kyler happy instead of sad.

Goals for mommy:

Here is a direct quote from Ryan: “Mommy, you don’t need to make any goals! You don’t need to change anything because you don’t do anything wrong!” After both Matt and I convinced him that I actually am not perfect (gasp!), we came up with the following three:

1. Read the scriptures more

2. Get up with the boys at 7:00 instead of trying to get that extra 1/2 hour of sleep in!

3. Less yelling. (Yes, I yell. I told you I wasn’t perfect.)

Kyler’s Goals:

This was a tough one because, well….he’s two. But after some discussion we decided on the following:

1. learn how to go potty in the toilet (oh how I dread dealing with this all over again!)

2. Be nicer to Ryan, Mommy and Daddy.

Daddy’s Goals:

Ryan was once again convinced that Daddy could do no wrong, so Daddy came up with his own goals:

1. Exercise more

2. Make more money

3. Watch less TV

And as his wife I feel I have the perogative to add: 4. Drink less Mountain Dew!

We set these goals last night and so far today hasn’t gone very well for any of us.

On another note, I walked into my bedroom today to check on Ryan and Kyler, who were watching “Up” and saw this:

How cute is that? It totally made my day.

I took photos of these guys right after we found out we were having another boy. As soon as I showed up to the shoot I think I whined something along the lines of, “Jodieeeeee! Please tell me that everything is going to be okay and having three boys is fun!” It only took a few minutes of picture-taking before I determined for myself that three boys ARE very fun…a little crazy…but very fun!