Nature

While Tim's parents were visiting last month, we did lots of site-seeing around here. These are just some nature shots I took.

We drove up the Blue Ridge Parkway and it was so beautiful! It had just rained and the clouds were starting to break up. They were so close to the ground and moving so fast through the valleys below- you could almost reach out and touch them! The next few are from Crabtree Falls. I wish I would've had my tripod with me so the foreground was nice and crisp, but I still love this effect- looks like a calendar shot, huh! The leaf is just my pathetic attempt to get a closeup of a water droplet- hard to do with a 5omm lens, but I still liked it. And the last two are from the world famous, 5-star Lake Monticello beach (don't look too closely at the water- not only is it dirty, but I had to photoshop out a lady doing the back stroke and some buoys!) It was such a beautiful day- it seems like we rarely have sunny days with blue skies and puffy clouds like this. Reminds me of the sky in Utah. Had to throw some sun flare in there too. I should probably stop doing these shots so much- I am sure it can't be too good for my lens.

That is it for now- I have lots more coming, so hopefully I will get to them this weekend!

Solids

It has been far too long since I updated my blog (okay, blogs), but I just wanted to add this one real quick so you all know we are still alive. Ethan turns 6 months in two more days and so it is time to start solids. This was from our first attempt this morning and I LOVE his expression- "what on earth are you shoving in my mouth?" He kept making this face every time we put a bite in, but I think he started to get the hang of it toward the end. I love starting solid foods- call me crazy but I actually think it is fun to feed them even when they just spit it right back out or gag on it. But I don't look forward to the day that he starts throwing his food on the walls, which I am sure will come sooner than I think! Hope you are all well! I have no shoots this week, so hopefully I will get caught up on all the photos I have to add on here and my other blog! So check back soon! Love you all!

Mandy

Not enough time...

Boy, I have said this a lot lately! There simply is not enough time in the day to get done everything I need or want to get done! And I only have two kids! Things have been crazy busy for me! All those sessions that I have had recently have piled up on top of me and it seems that in between taking care of my kids, I am at the computer ALL...DAY...LONG... Editing, cropping, preparing files for print, making slideshows, galleries... Lots of work! Don't get me wrong, I am THRILLED that business is going so well, but it is just a lot of work! Sorry my 'promise to write again tomorrow' didn't happen, I should've known better than to make a promise like that! And I am sure you have all been anxiously checking my blog 12 times a day waiting for my update (bwhahaha!) But anyways here are some updates on the happenings in our family:

Erica left almost three weeks ago and it is so very different around here! We miss her soooo much, even more than we thought we would! With her personality gone, we realize once again just how dull we are! Jace really misses her too. He keeps saying things like "When is Erica going to get off of that airplane?" "I want to go live in Utah, too!" and "I miss Erica." And he still starts out every prayer with "Bless mommy, daddy and Erica" (we still have to remind him about baby Ethan!); she will forever be a part of his family! The other day he even said "Erica is my sister". So cute!

As far as the drama of Jace adjusting to baby Ethan, things are MUCH better! Ethan is fascinated by Jace and loves to watch him and smile at him, and Jace just loves this! He seems to be doing much better now that Ethan can interact with him a bit. We still have to watch him with Ethan (the other day I came in the living room and saw Jace 'riding' on Ethan's back- Yikes!)

Jace has hit the 'WHY' stage with a vengeance! I remember when we first moved out here I was in the car with my friend Amy and her daughter Saige was 3 1/2 to 4 at the time. She talked non-stop, and I thought it was so funny and cute! I didn't think how 'cute' that would be if it happened ALL DAY LONG EVERY DAY! Here is a sample conversation I had with Jace on the way to town last week:

"Mommy, why's there no cars on the road?"

"Because everyone went to work"

"Why's everybody go to work?"

"So they can make money to support their families"

"Why do they need money?"

"So they can buy food, and clothes, and gas, and toys..."

"Why do they need to buy gas"

silence, (maybe if I Ignore him he will stop)

"Mom, why they need to buy gas?"

"So that they can drive their cars"

"Why do they drive their cars?"

"THEY JUST DO, JACE"

"Why they just do?"

and on... and on... and on...

AHHHHHHHHH! It is especially bad in the car. Maybe I should try turning the music up louder. Bless his heart, I know he is just developing and learning about the world around him, but it is can drive me absolutely CRAZY!

Ethan is growing- I am sure you could've guessed that much)- he is rolling over easily and can sit up for a few seconds before teetering over. He still hasn't slept through the night, but maybe it will happen tonight! I wish! He is still so alert and wide-eyed- I think it is so cute! But the other day we were in the grocery store and some guy walked by us and referring to Ethan said "WHOA! Look at those eyes- They look like they are going to pop out of his head!" Hahaha, jerk, thanks! Why don't people keep comments like that to themselves! Oh well, I still think he is the cutest baby in the world, even with his bug-eyes!

Well, that is about it. Good for you if you read through all of that! These are just some pictures I wanted you all to see. I took the one of Ethan and Jace last night at Palmyra (the oh-so-famous truck!) It will soon be gracing my mantle area in a 16X20 canvas- Yeah baby! WHCC (my lab) is having a 25% off canvas sale, so I have to take advantage! It's a big commitment though, I hope it looks good! Even at 25% off they are still expensive! I will take a picture of it on my wall when I get it. And the family picture will soon be on our walls, too! It's about time! And an outtake from the bunch (thought it was funny.) Had to throw one of Erica in there too, cause I thought it was so cute! We miss that girl!

Okay, I am done. Hope you are all doing well! And I promise I will not make any more promises about when I will post again (but I will try to keep up!) Take care!

Lollipop, lollipop...

Oh, lolli-lolli-lolli... Sorry, couldn't resist. Now you are going to have that song stuck in your head all day, huh! Well, I have been a major slacker on the family blog- things have been pretty busy and crazy around here. Not that that is much of an excuse- seems like things are always crazy and busy around here!

My good friend Ashley brought me this incredible lollipop last week after I watched her little girl. Well, she is also a photographer so she knows very well that this 'treat' is not really for Jace at all- It is for Jace's mom to use a photo op! Ashley uses these lollipops quite often with her kids and clients and does some amazing work with them in pictures so I was super excited to use this prop! And, of course, so was Jace! So before I put Jace down for his nap, we put on his dark Tshirt (I knew this would be messy!) and headed to one of our three patches of lovely crabgrass in our back yard to take some shots.

The lighting was a little harsh, so I made Jace lie down in the grass to get some good light in his eyes. He didn't like it too much, so I had to say something drastic to get his attention and keep him lying down. So to my own horor, I said "Jace, mommy has a monster booger on her camera!" Oh, boy, he thought that was HILARIOUS! So I said it again, and again, and again... What a bad mommy- trying to teach Jace not to say potty words, and yet here is his own mother saying 'bad' words just to get a good picture. So I felt a little guilty after this , and hoped Jace wouldn't remember mommy's foul language (not that I think booger is really a bad word, just by using it in this situation I was totally encouraging Jace to use it too). But no, no, no- As soon as Tim walked in the door that night Jace laughingly says "There's a booger monster on mommy's camera, Daddy!" Oh boy. Even today, after seeing these pictures he still remembers the "booger monster". But I don't care- Just look at that smile! Totally worth the foul language to me!

Hope you enjoy these- I have lots of updates, stories and pictures to post so I PROMISE I will post again tomorrow! Taker care!

~Mandy

Mr. Turtle

We were out doing yard work Saturday and found a little friend- Mr. Turtle! This is the third or fourth turtle we have found in our yard, but still everytime we find one I get excited! Jace was facinated by it and actually dared to hold it this time (last time we caught one, he was afraid of it). So of course I had to take some wicked cool pictures of it! Erica thought it was cool too, since she has only seen one other turtle out here and it wasn't nearly as 'cute' and little as this one. And she got some pretty sweet shots of the turtle, too with her point and shoot. It has a macro mode, and I only had my 35mm lens on (no zoom!) so I couldn't get any really close shots. Makes me want a Macro lens (add that to the end of my very long photography equipment wish list). But did she get this beautiful bokeh? Nope, so there Erica! My camera is better than yours! Just kidding... But really it is... it better be!

Well, hope you enjoy seeing our new little friend. We did let him go, by the way. I really wanted to keep him, but seeing as I can't keep a plant alive for more than a week in my house, I probably better steer clear of having pet turtles.