I received so many positive comments and emails the last time I posted the photo of Myles playing guitar for Simon that I thought I should show Simon still enjoying it 6 months later.

No, we don’t do it every night but more often then not Myles likes to unwind in the evening by playing a little guitar. This is something he has done since we were first married. Often I will give Simon a massage while Myles plays some hymns and lullabies. These were taken tonight after Simon’s bath and massage. Simon likes to watch Myles’s fingers and will often try and "help". Now that he can kind of scoot around he likes to try and insert his fingers in between Myles’s strumming.   

Our bedroom is really tiny so to take this picture my tri-pod is sitting in our closet. I got lucky and Simon smiled just as the timer went off and it made me smile. And this was only the second shot, I didn’t make it in time for the first one. The next camera I get must be able to handle a remote.

Simon has been having a rough time with the teething. This is resulting in the use of a lot of teething tablets and diaper cream (he has had a bad diaper rash). Just yesterday one of the bottom teeth has barely poked through the gum. This is now resulting in a lot of bitting  which is very painful.  The hot weather has made all of this even more miserable. Last night we let Simon sleep in just his diaper which was a mistake because he figured out how to un-velcro it and effectively take it off. He then of course wet the bed. This would not be that big of a deal if he had been in his own bed at the time, but no, he was in our bed. There’s nothing like waking up in a puddle of someone else’s pee!

I don’t mind the rain, I am comfortable wearing a sweater, in fact I actually enjoy coolish weather because it means you can really enjoy a hearty stew or chili. I love snuggling up under my down comforter.

This morning breakfast was a fruit smoothing and dinner was the same thing – way to hot to cook on the stove. I know this may just sound like whining to those of you who live in much hotter climates but we don’t have air conditioning and right now it is 11pm and my thermostat says 82 degrees in the house!

I took Simon down to the ocean tonight with the hopes of getting some good 6 month old photos of him. I knew it would be a lot cooler down by the water, and it was. But Simon was interested in everything but taking photos. I will post some of the outtakes from that later. For now these are just some photos I took earlier in the evening.

"There’s mom with that blasted camera again… maybe If I just ignore her she will go away…"

"Oh, I can’t help myself, I love it when she makes those funny noises!"

"Ooo! Peek-A-Boo I really love it when she does that!"

"But wait, I just remembered! I’m teething, my gums hurt, and it’s WAY TOO HOT!"

Sorry I haven’t been posting regularly, we are still recovering from the Montero’s visit. The couple far left (Nick and Melissa), were our close friends but then they up and moved to Miami! They were in town visiting and lets just say some wild times were to be had.

Look our old small group out with out kids in toe – I think the last time that happened was before most of us had kids!

I asked a random stranger to take a picture of our group, she said "sure" but then had second thoughts when she saw my camera. She took one serious shot but then told us we needed to look a lot more wild and crazy – this was the resulting image.

Today is our 5th wedding anniversary. It really blows my mind that we have already been married that long it seems like it was only yesterday. To celebrate I made another slide show.You can view it  HERE. There are a lot of snapshots and goofy photos from the last 5 years in it – but hey it’s us. If you have been reading my blog for long you have probably already seen a lot of them. And since I know I will get comments on it,yes, I look young for my age. For the record I was 22 when we got married. Myles and I met in College, he was a Theta Chi, I was a Tri Delta or houses were across the street from each other. We dated a little over a year and we were engaged our senior year and married the summer after we graduated.  Myles, you are my best friend and can’t imagine life without you – Thanks for the best 5 years of my life.   

This is my first attempt at this – so take it with a grain of salt.
click HERE to view the birth slide show. (don’t worry it’s PG)

I photographed a birth!
Cash Allen was born this morning at 1:43 am.




Big sister meet your baby brother.

In reality this is what I did the last two nights as this little guy took his time making his appearance into the world (almost 3 days). In all honesty I wasn’t there the entire time, I got to go home and sleep and just come back for the important parts.  This was absolutely beautiful and I am glad that I had the opportunity to photograph it.

More photos coming soon… 

these were to funny not to share

Sorry, I know that this blog has gotten a little Simon heavy. But he is cute and I can’t help myself. But here are some other cute children…


and no, I didn’t tell her to stand like that. She did it all by herself.

I want to point out these children’s clothing as an excellent example of how to dress for a photo shoot. The clothing is coordinated but not identical, It has a timeless feel, and it works well with the surroundings. The clothing does not distract from the subject. There is not one right thing to wear, I am just pointing out for this scene the children are dressed very appropriately.

I have too many favorites from this session : )

On a side note. I am getting ready for the Holiday onslaught. Last year I did 4 – 6 sessions a week and it was WAY too much. After having 5 sessions in a row this past week I have just reaffirmed that. So in an effort to preserve my sanity I am only going to take on 2 sessions a weekend for the months of September, October, and November – one session on Saturdays and one on Sundays. The exception will be newborns, I will always schedule newborn sessions at the convenience of their parents. So long story made short, if you want a September, October, or November session you best schedule it now. I always get phone calls and emails the week after Thanksgiving and by then it is way too late.

He weighed in at only 14lbs 10.5 oz which surprised me. I thought he would be over 15 lbs. Carrying him around all the time he sure feels like he is about 20lbs. On that note I finally broke down and ordered a stroller yesterday. He was 27” long which is 75% for height – if you are keeping track.

Yes, he unties his shoes and if he is not wearing shoes he pulls off his socks.  I have been trying to keep socks on him to keep his burned foot from being exposed to the sun (per pediatricians recommendation). Since he regularly pulls off his socks I have to put shoes on him.

I have gotten a lot of questions about his foot. It really does look a lot better and I think he will only be left with a tiny scar. And hopefully he doesn’t even remember it any more. Here is a picture.

And here is the little scooter, who scoots himself into any small enclosed space. He then gets stuck and cries because he can’t roll over or back up anymore.
Proof


The last few days he has been rocking up on his knees, but he hasn’t quite gotten it that he also has to move his arms. Every time he goes for it SPLAT – right on his face.
And this is how I found him the other day when I went to check on him while he was napping.

I don’t even know how he did that one.