Nasty Habits

We all have stupid, nasty habits. Mine is biting my nails and unfortunately, my girls now do it too. Today Lu took it to a whole new nasty level. We were sitting in church when all of a sudden Abby says (really loud I might add), "Ewe! Lu just bit my toenail!" I guess she thought Abby's toenails were too long. I am so ashamed.

Let The Projects Begin

I recently turned my dining room into a play room (I'll take pics another day). Since I have two tables and no where to put them both, I sold the one in my kitchen and am now painting my dining room table and 12 chairs so it can go in the kitchen. I did the table yesterday and today is the chairs. What have I gotten myself into!!!!

Help!

My Boys Are Home

Michael and Ryan have been gone all week. Ryan went to New York for business and Michael did a thing called "Trek" where the kids pull handcarts like the pioneers 15 miles a day for 3 days on an actual pioneer trail in Wyoming. It's a great experience for the kids and helps them appreciate what those people really went through.

I'm so happy to have my boys home.

Nothing Bundt Cakes

This place is sooooo yum! If you live in Salt Lake City and you haven't had one of their bundt cakes, do yourself a favor and try one. My fav is the chocolate chocolate chip and my second fav is the red velvet. YUM!!

Yes, I broke my diet for one of their little ones today and it was sooo worth it!

Sibling Love

One of the best parts about being a photographer is getting to know the children of my best friends I grew up with. I love it when they see me and give me big hugs since we have so much fun shooting together! These are Kelly's kiddos. I love them and miss them already. My Abby misses them too. She asked if they could be her brother and sisters.

Engaged Mini

My first time trying an engagement mini shoot today. It went great and I really enjoyed it!

Tall Tree

I love 2 year olds, especially the two I get to spend time with this week :)

Heaven in a Bottle

Today I got to experience Heaven in a bottle twice!!!

I only got a picture of one of them though. The first is this amazing dressing my hubby made for me before he left for New York (recipe coming soon if you are interested!). I seriously crave this stuff like candy. Mixed greens, pine nuts, and this dressing = PERFECTION!

The second, was brought all the way from Cali by one of my best High School friends Kelly. A friend of her's owns a bakery called "Bake You Happy" and she brought me a chocolate cupcake with vanilla bean frosting in a jar! Seriously one of the best things I've ever tasted! Thank you Kelly. I forgot to mention my birthday is on August 7th and I know what I want for my cake!! (hint hint :) I'll send you a HUGE jar okay?!!!!

Breakfast on the deck

I got my girls this little outdoor play set for the deck. Their favorite thing, eating breakfast out on the deck!

Filler

I am loving my eyelashes! Don't think I'll ever get rid of them. Today was my first fill.

I'm so proud of this picture. I couldn't open my eyes at all so I was just holding the camera out in front of me hoping I got something good!

Sound Of Silence

After the party my girl's left and went to spend the night with their cousins. They ended up staying 2 nights. We go pick them up today and although I have missed them, I feel horrible admitting I've enjoyed the silence. No fights to break up, no crying, no messes to clean up.

I love being a mom more than anything but I really struggle sometimes. I want to live my life with no regrets but it seems the harder I try the more I have. Most of the time I feel completely lost as if I don't have a clue what I'm doing or if I'm even doing it right. There is so much pressure to be the perfect mom and I seem to find myself falling short, especially in the patience department.

Bedtime is a nightmare in my house. We put the girls to bed at 8pm and at 10 they are still awake, fighting, crying, tattling on each other the entire 2 hours. I'm at my wits end and don't know what to do. Nothing has worked. Maybe I need to separate them into separate rooms again. Sorry to vent. Guess I just needed to get it out.

PPD

I think I am suffering from PPD - Post Party Depression.

LuLu's Chocolate Factory

Today was Lu's Willy Wonka themed 4th birthday party. I will be doing a post on my photography blog with tonz more pics but here is one so you can see what the whole room looked like...

If you want to see more decorations here is the link:
http://lookieloo.smugmug.com/Family/Louisa/Willy-Wonka-Party-Decorations/18140566_5r7z97#1392716140_gWDP8cF

Was it worth the days and hours of work? For this little girl, of course it was.

Baking Queen

My husband and kids have nicknamed me the "Baking Queen" and even sing a song to the tune of "Dancing Queen" using Baking Queen instead. They love it when I make cookies, banana bread, or pretty much any dessert.

Today I spent the day baking all the goodies for Lu's birthday party tomorrow. I made 3 giant doughnuts, 50 cupcakes, and 2 giant gummy bears. All this and I didn't take a bite or even lick my finger to taste since I am on a diet. Yep, I got some mad will power!!

One of the giant doughnuts. Yum (I think since I didn't actually taste it!).

Tying A Bow

This afternoon was a mad dash to get ready for church since we were extremely late so when Abby asked me to teach her how to tie a bow on her dress, I told her there was no time.

Luckily she has an amazingly patient teacher at church who taught her and Abby came home and showed me all the while beaming with pride.

Oh another missed opportunity to teach my child and another regret. Thank you Andrea for being a better mother to my daughter today than I could be.

Steph

This is one of my closest friends. I would do ANYTHING for her, including shooting her brother's entire wedding for free so she wouldn't have to since she is 7 months pregnant.

She doesn't think she looks beautiful right now being so pregnant and I sooooooo disagree. It's true there is nothing more beautiful than a pregnant woman and no one makes her smile like her hubby whispering sweet nothings in her ear.

It All Ends

We did it!! All 8 movies ending with the newest and last Harry Potter movie. I am a pretty cool mom if I do say so myself!

This was technically taken today but the clock on my camera is off show it's showing it was taken the wrong day.

Harry Potter Marathon

Are we crazy?

Ryan, Michael, and I all drove to the theater this morning at 6 am for the Harry Potter Marathon. We watched all 8 movies in a row and didn't finish until 3am the next day. Crazy huh? It was fun though and am so glad we did it even though we felt like this a lot of the time...

4 Years

Four amazingly wonderful years with this little girl. She is so quirky and silly and I love her just the way she is. She is my sunshine.

Joshie

One of my clients who has become a dear friend just adopted this little guy a couple months ago. I couldn't be happier for her and I am so in love with him. Can't wait to post more pictures!

???

It's been a while since I have updated this blog and I can't find a picture for today or even remember what it is I took. Maybe I deleted it accidentally? I guess we may never know.

Greenhouse Statues

I have been really slacking with my 365. I never feel like taking a picture so I just do whatever and my pics have become blah or non-existent because of it. Today we went for our Sunday drive up in the Avenues of Salt Lake and I brought my camera hoping to just have fun taking pictures again. I did, so much that I am posting lots of pictures. It's my 365 challenge, I can post more than one if I want, especially when I've had a couple blank days lately!

I love greenhouses. I wish I had one.
These next ones were taken of a monument at our state capitol.



Next is a tombstone my husband found in the Salt Lake Cemetery on his morning jog. He saw it and knew I would love it so he took a picture and texted it to me. He was right, I loved it and wanted to photograph it myself in hopes to do it justice.

In all the tombstones and statues I've seen I have never seen one with so many emotions captured. I feel calming peace, sadness, and longing all at once and it brings tears to my eyes. I can feel the beautiful love this man had for his wife.



As we left the cemetery I was joking with my husband and told him I want a huge camera for my statue on my tombstone with a real viewfinder on it so everyone can see the world the way I do :)

Double Rainbow and No Camera

Didn't have my camera today when I saw a beautiful rainbow while driving to my brother's house. I took one with my cell phone instead and now I can't find the cord to get it onto my computer. I'll just have to post it later!

Can't Reach

I have felt this way so many times, that the thing I want is just out of reach. Something tells me you all have too.

Is that Yogurt?

My girls never cease to amaze me with the messes they can make!!

Yes, that is yogurt dripping down the UPPER cabinet in my kitchen. How did that get there?

Nada

Got nothing for ya today, just didn't feel like it ;)

Until Next Year

Time to go home and none of us want to. Took a picture of the shoe tree Ryan discovered on his morning jog.

Happy 4th!!!

This is such a great holiday. I love our country and I love celebrating it so I definitely go all out! For the last 8 years we've gone to Park City for the 4th and it's our family's favorite tradition.

We started the day with breakfast at the Eating Establishment, then watched some of the parade, and then spent the day swimming and eating with the Jorgensen family who come with us every year now! We love that they come.

My girls were a hit in these outfits - LOVE it!!
My nephew comes too so Michael has a friend too!

I told you I go all out! Even got everyone flag swimsuits.

Happy 4th of July everyone!!

Ride Day

Today we spent most of the day riding the rides up in Park City. The kids love it!! The ride up on the ski lift to the Alpine Slide is really nice. It's about 15 minutes long and we talk and look for animals while we ride.

This is who everyone is looking at...

The Alpine Slide...

Early Present

Today we are off to Park City for the 4th and wanted to give Lu her birthday present early so her and Abby could both have their American Girl dolls to play with.

Yes, I got them matching outfits with their dolls. KMart for $15! What a deal.

Odd Question

This was taped to the stop sign by my house. Hmmmm. Well, I'm not (not yet at least;)