photo shoot : a family of 4

I met Amanda last year.  She is another resident's wife/stay at home mom.  I completely value her friendship and have been so excited to watch her family go from 3 to 4 this year.  It makes finding time with her a little bit harder, but she is pretty good about getting back to me with texts.   I was beyond excited when she asked me to take some photos of them now that Baby Charlotte (aka Charlie) is here.  Here are a few of my favorites:

lets play a game

So last week I mentioned a project that two friends helped out with.  Well now I'm ready to tell you about that project.  Everyone has received their cards so I'm good with spilling it all on here.  Especially since it went over so well!

This little doozie was dreamed up over a month ago.  I had just met my friend Aly down here and found out she was into crafty things too, so I texted her one day and asked her for ideas for how to reveal the name of our baby.  Because lets face it... other than what he is going to look like for real, the name is all we had left to have fun with.  We didn't wait very long to let our families know about the pregnancy, and couldn't hold it in that he was a boy... especially since we had just moved and not settled in to our new surroundings/jobs.  So I am actually glad that Kyle decided at the last moment that we would not tell the name we had decided on.  Even though I was dying to tell everyone I talked to.

I knew I wanted to do a photo... but was quickly shown on Pinterest and Google Search that everyone was doing the same thing at the moment.

They are all cute ideas... I just knew that I wanted to add an element to the reveal... so all that to say... I was excited when Aly's reply was to do photo clues for the names.  

And so The Name Game was born.  I asked for Aly and her boyfriend Matt's help with the photos of Kyle and I...

We picked a Sunday we were all free and put it on the calendar.  Matt would take the photos, and for the sake of time, I would do the editing so I could print immediately.  So last week, we went to Reedy Falls Park after church and had a little fun.  Matt got some really great shots but only a few were right for THE photo.  Mostly... the belly wasn't very obvious... and what's a pregnancy photo without the belly?  Even so... I love these pictures!

None of these were quite right.  But I may still use them for my own personal collection.  But no worries!  Matt got a couple of shots just perfect for what I had in store.

So I picked, Photoshopped, printed.  All that was left was the main part of the project.  Creating the game.  This took an entire extra day of printing, cutting, decoupaging, and stamping.  But I just loved the end result!  Feel free to play along before you look at the last photos :).

Inside was "did you get it right?" followed by personalized messages and a copy of the chosen pictures (we sent out 2 different ones) with the answer.  So some of you reading this got one picture and you can see the other photo that went to others now!

In case you are playing along... the answer is coming up!

Soon!

Alright...

Now!

I loved hearing what people guessed.  Most people really over-thought the clues.  Kyle's parents broke out the atlas, my parents tried "decoding"the mile marker with a numbers=letters idea.  Others just thought the cities were options for names.  The game was definitely a hit and was worth the effort.

And the short explanation on the name:

Myles : the middle name of Kyle's grandfather Vernon who passed away in May.
Oliver : Kyle's dad's middle name and also the maiden name of his grandmother who just passed away.

We can't wait to meet our Myles!  I have been extra busy planning and working on his room lately!

photo shoot : siblings part 2

Here is part 2 of the photos I took with my brother and husband.  As I mentioned yesterday, he wanted to do some photos in his uniform but had trouble getting it.  He hadn't bought a new uniform since his freshman year of college.  When he was a stick.  The term high-waters was an excellent description of his pants 5 years later.  Little brother grew up.  And bulked up.

5 years ago.  Stick.

After over a week of trips to 2 different military bases in Ohio and Kentucky, he finally got the uniform put together.  So here is Mother's Day present take 2.

(1)

(2) 

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

I'm really happy to have both of my guys with me in these pictures.  They have become very close over the years and its going to be hard to have us all together after we move.  They have really become brothers since we got married and I absolutely love it, even though they drive me nuts when they are together.  Number 8 is going to have to be blown up somewhere in our new home.

photo shoot : siblings part 1

The two weeks leading up to our whirlwind weekend, my brother and I did some secret photo shoots for our mom.  He had the fantastic idea that since we were both leaving the state and country soon we should take pictures together for his commissioning gift to her and our Mother's Day gift.  We wanted to do all of them at once but he had some issues getting his new uniform ordered and tailored.  So one week, with the help of Kyle, we did some plain clothes photos (today's post), and the next week we did the military ones (tomorrow's post).  Kyle made his way into a few of them.  We all took turns using the camera depending on who was in the shot and then I edited.

Enjoy.

(1)

(2) 

(3)

(4) 

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

We had a lot of fun doing these and I will treasure them for a long time.  So glad he had such an awesome idea.  Whats your favorite?  Comments are welcome.  :)

photo shoot : baby bays

Back in the fall I was honored to take the maternity pictures of my good friend Lauren with her husband Jeff, before the birth of their precious little boy Jeffrey Lee Bays III (JLB3), or "Baby Bays".  My husband and I have been in community with his parents for almost a year now and they are some of our very best friends. 

And then about a month after he was born, I had the privilege of getting to photograph JLB3 and his parents for their first family photos.  

Last week, he turned 2 months old and I got to take some more pictures of this quickly growing baby.  He is really starting to show some personality and that was really fun to catch.

1

2

 3

 4

 5

6

Isn't he just so precious!?  Such a handsome little boy.  It is so awesome to get to see how much he changes every time I see him.  And I get to babysit him this weekend.  So. excited.  Which is your favorite?