Christmas Blessings

The hubby and I just got home from seeing this movie, which we thought we'd love... Yes, obviously you know it's going to involve blood, etc. just from the movie trailers, but I thought, it's a musical, has a fun actor, it'll be good. My GRACIOUS there was a lot of gore! (And not of the Inconvenient Truth kind...)
Depp did a great job in the acting dept., of course, but I'm not a fan of scary movies, and this was not "scary", but when there's blood and guts, I just lump that all in together with the scary movies that I try not to see. Anyways, so to take my mind off the yuckiness that is still lurking, I decided to post CHRISTMAS PICTURES!

:)
We had a very, very blessed Christmas season in my home. I love decorating my home for the holidays and just all the festivities that accompany this time of year. Which, sadly of course, comes to a halt the day after Christmas...ahem, today.... but sit back while I reminisce about my personal holiday memories from this year.


Putting up our tree.
I think we did this the first weekend in December. My husband and I disagree about putting the ribbon on the tree. He likes his tree simple, just ornaments. I grew up with garland and ribbon and tinsel and, etc. So I compromised by *just* putting up ribbon - no garland, no tinsel. He still would prefer to have no ribbon at all, but we did that last year and it was just TOO plain!

My favorite part is our star. It has little star shaped holes cut out all over it so our ceiling has little glowing stars on it.

Our poor tree had a falling out this year with one of our dogs - go ahead and take a guess at which one.

We each were able/asked to take our childhood ornaments from our parents' home last year. I love getting to put those up. The "Joy" purple construction paper piece with my Kindergarten school picture in the "o" is my favorite. It has *always* been right at the top and center of every one of my trees growing up, (as you can see, it still is - when you help decorate the tree, you get to put things where you like, no matter if others disagree who were not fast enough to place their favorite ornament front and center!)

So one night last week I was in my office working on the computer when I heard a big CRUNCH*CRUNCH*CRUNCH! I run out to find Pearl sitting on the rug next to the tree licking her chops. Hmmmm, what ornament just got devoured??? (This is a first too, by the way. She, thankfully, has not done this before, and well, I hope never again.) I tried to open her mouth to swoop out any leftovers and looked around where she was sitting to play detective to figure out what we've lost. All I came up with was a small, skinny piece of wood connected with wire. I brought it in to my husband, and he instantly knew - his little boy ornament playing the violin made of baked clay that he received as a child when he played the violin in his elementary school orchestra. Yeah, it was an irreplaceable one. The little piece of wood remaining was the bow to the violin. I felt so bad for him!
Dumb dog... whatya gonna do? I guess we now know to keep the chewable, irreplaceable ones up top! (next to my "Joy" one.)

Christmas with my parents a week ago. (They spent Christmas day in NY with my grandmother.)

I was so excited to finally get a CHI! Hopefully now my hair may stand a chance at not having the my hair is too thick/takes too long to blow dry so it's just constantly wavy look.

My little brother's dog, Squirt, got a little brother of his own this year! He was a surprise gift for my sis-in-law.

The new addition, Hercules - a Boxer, was certainly not sore for attention. He has the sweet puppy smell and was soooo soft. A little puppy envy on my end, but then I remember potty training....

The remote-controlled helicopter was an entertaining success! All the boys in the family got one this year. At one point they all had their's flying at the same time, but that went about as well as having the idea to try to tease Squirt with the helicopter: see video below

It was also my dad's birthday! Well, his birthday was on the 15th, but they were out of the country then, so we celebrated a little late. As my uncle said, he turned the big "double nickels" this year.

Okay, last one of my brother's puppy. It just looks too cute to be real here! Like a little stuffed animal!

Last Thursday, we went in to see my mother-in-law and I: A.) got a haircut, & B.) helped her ice her traditional Christmas sugar cookies! A. - the haircut was overdue. I went to Stuart's cousin's salon in Ft. Worth and she did a great job. It's now a "style" and not just blah. I love it! B. - My mother-I-L makes these famous cookies every year, but ONLY at Christmas. They are quite a treat that we look forward to all year! I like to help ice them because then the "broken" ones go in my tummy, and I get to pick out the good ones for our plate to take home!

At home Thursday night with our affectionate, lovable, one-blue-eyed, loud-barking, problem child, Pearl.

Christmas night at Stuart's mom's with our girls.

SUCH a wonderful holiday time. PTL!

I'm getting ready right now to photograph a wedding tomorrow! I even rented the big dog for the big day! I already know that she is my next big purchase from the reviews I've read, but I've never actually shot with it! It's easy to figure out because it works the same as my current camera body, but just a bit larger in size, so it's weird getting my hands used to gripping it. But it is quite a beauty! Looking forward to tomorrow!
:)

Bouncing Birthday Boy Bash

I love photographing birthday parties!
On a small scale, it takes me back to my photojournalism assignments in college. It's fun to have to keep on your toes and always be on the lookout for little moments going on everywhere that you only have one shot at capturing.

Z turned ONE!

His mommy & daddy went all out and threw one of the most fun kids' parties I've seen at this country club in Frisco.

You bet I took a fiver and tasted this gorgeous confection.
mmm mmmm

You can't even tell his beautiful mommy is 6 mo. pregnant. She had the glow though!

Yeah, I meant to ask where she got this adorable crown! Doesn't it make you have to have one for your little one's next big day?!

Z 's guests, (of the miniature kind), had so much fun jumping in the bounce house and watching Hanky the clown make balloon animals and put on a puppet show!




Z and his daddy have such a sweet bond.




eyelashes. swoon.

Little Sisters Have All the Fun

I met these 3 beauties a couple weeks ago.

They were all so good with each other! Very patient, did not squabble - not quite how I remember my relationship with my brothers, (though of course brothers and sisters have a different dynamic...)

They shared lip gloss and giggles.

(My brothers and I shared baseball and bruises.)


And it's a shame the baby of the family was so shy...


Really. Can't you tell she doesn't like attention?

:)

Middle sister, W, is in Kindergarten, plays soccer and has such a fun little personality!

Two words about gorgeous big sister: heart. breaker.


I'm sure glad I got to meet you funny girls. You made me laugh.
:)

Holiday Variety

So, I went a little overboard with my image selection. I couldn't choose!

This fun family opted for part holiday home session/part park session.
I love variety!

Two-&-a-half-yr.-old W has the cutest, toddler smirk in this picture. A little mischievous - (not him though! He was so well behaved!)

C is on the move. He's 8 mos. old and ready to explore!

Oh my goodness. Could this be any sweeter?

Daddy's hand to guide him.
And look at that focus. He is determined to make it!

Piler

Hello, blogger world. I've neglected you. Not intentionally, I've said this before, and I mean it. Just busy. I'm happy that our "usual" relationship shall resume soon.
I've officially got 5 sessions patiently waiting for their at-one-time-would-have-been "sneak" peeks, but now have viewed their session so they can get them back in time for Christmas; therefore, once their blog's are posted, it will be a repeat viewing. (*I think that's officially not a run-on sentence.*) I really have goals to get those posted this week! You might be wondering why this post isn't one of those...I'm just going cross-eyed from editing, so I wanted to post non-photo related, just this afternoon, I promise this will not be a regular occurrence! But, I AM going to post a session tonight, but they're worthy of their own post. I didn't want to attach someone's precious pictures to my boring ramblings.

Le sigh... I am pleased though that I was able to turn around all of my clients' sessions in time to be given as Christmas gifts!

:) *take the positive where I can!*

Okay, so a little secret about me: I'm a piler. Just papers, not really objects. I have to have things out in view to remember to do them - pay bills mostly. I would take a picture of my piles, but that would be way too embarrassing! Of course this frustrates my husband. I have, however, gotten better about storing my piles in our guest room, out of sight of visitors! I don't know what it is, why I can't just get organized. It's also a matter of not knowing where to put things, but not wanting to throw them out. Like the Halloween card my sweet mother-in-law sent me, (yes, two months ago). I know most of you are saying "throw it away!" But, I like to hold on to those little things every now and then. Not every year, but this year's card was really cute! So it's in a pile because I don't know where to store it, but, yep - don't want to throw it away! I'm sure even she would tell me to throw it away. Her son certainly has...
I blame my father. It's in the genes. He's known for his effortless skillz among those in the "pack-rat" brotherhood. (No, not the Rat Pack - though that would be WAY cooler!) There could be a brotherhood. You either are one or ya ain't! It's good that I married an "ain't" member, can you imagine otherwise? We'd have to move from our pretty much empty 4 bedroom to a...I don't know how big....

It's mostly mementos. At my parent's house, my old bedroom is filled with my childhood belongings, and man, I could pretty much narrate my entire childhood just from the things I've kept, all labeled with the date, of course. I don't know why, but in high school I thought it was necessary to take menus from the restaurants we ate at on special occasions with our friends. Like birthdays, or after the homecoming dance. They're all dated, and some of them may even have the people I ate with. Is that sad?
Can you imagine when we have a kid? I'll probably keep it's first dirty diaper, just cuz it's a "first". I already know I plan on keeping the positive pregnancy test stick. Yes, it's full of my #1, but it's special, gosh darn it!!! Did any of you do that? Am I weird for wanting to hold on to that?

Well, maybe I do hoard objects, and not just papers. But, I don't keep the objects in piles! Just drawers.
Anywho, so there. A little "Julie-ism" that is not known among strangers. Which I don't know why I thought it necessary to be known, but I don't mind getting personal. Eh, we're friends.

Rewards

I'm up late (on Sunday) burning CDs for a session, so I figured I should use this time (while I wait for them to burn) to finally post!
Christmas portrait mayhem is about to start slowing down. I had my last 2 Christmas sessions yesterday and this is my last week of major editing/getting orders out. While I still have three sessions and a wedding to photograph in the next couple weeks, there won't be the Mommy panic of "we have to get this right to be done in time for Christmas" that just comes with the holiday portrait territory. And by the way, I applaud all you parents out there! Picking out coordinating outfits for yourselves and your kiddos, keeping the kids clean on the way to your session, trying to not let your anxiety show to your kids during your session, and holding up your end of the bargain for their "rewards" at the end is not that easy! (Leaving any pressure on me? Nah!)
Of course, I hope I've held up my end of the bargain by presenting all 28 of you families I was blessed enough to meet this season with precious images of your little ones.

Meet little Z and his family who I photographed a couple weeks ago. They have a beautiful home with just the right nook for a family session.
I love Z 's curls. Both of the boys have them! Usually baby curls cease after the first haircut, but these cuties are lucky enough to get to hold on to their's! (Or should I say, their mommy is the lucky one?)

C had a goal to work towards, and he did a great job! He was promised cookies, milk, and candy if he behaved well for his pictures. (In rations...)
Well, he remembered every bit of those rewards coming his way because every few minutes he'd ask, "am I getting cookies, milk, and candy?" He deserved it after being such a good boy.
I always tell parents that the reward system works for a productive session! No, not bribes... rewards!

They had just put the lights on their tree the night before, but no ornaments yet. The boxes of ornaments can be all sorts of things when you use your imagination! Z and his big brother scooted those boxes all over the place - thank goodness the ornaments were plastic, and not glass!

Camp Boo & Jaja

This is four generations right here.
Wow. That is so special that these babies get to know their great-grandmother!
(Can you spot the grandmother? Because all night I kept having a hard time remembering that she was the grandmother and not one of the daughters. Not only does she look so young, but she is so full of life!)

My husband and I came to their home for their (extended) family session Thanksgiving weekend.
The kids live across the state and one family lives out of state, so this was definitely a memorable time worthy of capturing!

AND baby O's first birthday!!! Such a happy, little prince!
(This shot is from the pre-party - yeah, baby O definitely knows how to throw a bash!)

(And that's why my husband came with me to the session. Boo, (the grandmother), was so sweet to invite us to the birthday party/cookout taking place after our session!)

These cousins don't live too far apart, so they are blessed to get to play with each other often!

I'm tellin' ya! Don't they look like sisters?!

This little sugar was so sick all night. She did not feel good at all, but when her Jaja mentioned playing pool, she perked up enough so that a little twinkle got back in her eye.

Probably one of my favorite images of the night.
Just because you're a mommy, doesn't mean you're not still someone else's baby.

Baby G was all snuggled in the pillows! She just looked like she needed some stuffed animals all around her to look like a toy collection. Precious!

Father & sons-in-law. I'm not sure if they're celebrating the mass amounts of football going on, or just having a good time - (or I guess that could equal both!)

Now: Thoughts of baby O...

"Yay, it's my birthday! Everyone is singing to me! This is so much fun!

Wait. What? First the singing stops, and now you want me to stick my hands in this mush? I don't wanna, it's squishy! Can't we just keep playing?!?

Oh, Mom. It was horrible! The mushiness, everyone staring at me, then they started laughing... can I just take a bath now?"

:)