Amber, Whit and Josie

Here's a few more from our little photo session last week.  It was so nice posing Amber and Whit...It was great to have subjects who did what I asked of them!  And Josie was excellent practice for next summer when Rilo will be her age!  It definitely takes some effort to get a good shot of a toddler!

Whit was a good sport.  She had been at the pool and packing all day long and just came to watch.  I forced her to do a few pictures.  Doesn't she look great for not getting all dolled up?

Here's cute little Josie.  It's hard to believe she was Rilo's age last summer and now is walking and talking!

And lastly, a few more of Amber.

I love how much there is to learn about photography.  I have no current plans for it, other than to document our life, but I really love working on specific skills and seeing progress.  Sometimes I think I have too many hobbies, but I really love them all and can't begin to think about narrowing them down. 

Photos, Birthdays, and Closings

Yesterday, I asked some of the girls out here in Chicago to do a fun little photoshoot.  I love taking pictures of Rilo, but I wanted to practice on some other subjects.  Photography is such a fun hobby!  I might post some more of these next week after the girls give their stamp of approval.  Here's one I love of Amber:

Tomorrow marks the 25th birthday of my best friend!  Happy early birthday Marbear!!!

{Circa Halloween 2003?!  We won Most Creative at the Halloween Dance...mostly because we stayed in "tourist" character the WHOLE dance}

And lastly, I was sad to hear that Shade is closing down.  They are great for basics...I have several of their tees!  Boo!  But at least we can enjoy their sale! 

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Have a great weekend!!!

Four Months

Rilo's four month pics are on the baby blog! Plus this gem!

TV Stand before/after coming up later today!

Baby Kaiden

Remember that baby shower we threw a few weeks ago for Sami?  Well Sami had her baby boy on June 6th!  He is the cutest, tiniest little guy.  He really doesn't have an ounce of fat on him!  Rilo was never that tiny (well, in the outside world anyway).

We decided to take some pictures for fun yesterday.     Meet Kaiden Lawrence:

And my absolute favorite:

What a little cutie!!

Prints

I need some art prints to put in some of my frames.  I have decided to find some that I took and have them printed.  Isn't it strange that we rarely get prints anymore?  At least for me, I can't really remember the last time I had photos printed!  Here's what I'm thinking.

I might also print off some of the free artwork available on Indie Fixx.

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Does anyone else have problems with scheduling posts?  Sometimes my posts revert back to drafts, even though I hit publish.  I read that this has been an issue with Blogger for awhile now.  It's very annoying!   

We have some exciting things planned this weekend.  More about that on Monday.  Plus I can't wait to show the progress to our rooms! Happy weekend!

Favorite Pictures

I just took these pictures of Rilo Jane yesterday and they are my favorite things right now!  Check more out here.

A New Look

Finally got around to changing up the blog!  I also added a search feature on the left column and some links on the top for quick access.  I just can't seem to get away from the yellow...there is always yellow somewhere in my blog!

I was also just looking through the spring family pictures again and had to laugh when I came to this one.  Melanie and I tried to get a picture of the two of us together, and well, this is what we got...

Two smiling moms and two screaming babies!   Hope you all had a great weekend!  I'll be posting updated pictures of the house this week since it has officially been a year since I've posted a little house tour!

Jessica Peterson

A few weeks ago, I blogged some pictures of our dog, Sawyer, that Jessica took. Well if you're in Utah, Jessica is offering mini-sessions for a great price this Friday and Saturday. She'll make you look this good:

Aren't these underwater images so cool. A Cup of Jo recently featured them.

{Images via Jessica}

Sawyer Sitting

We were gone for nearly a week last week visiting Rilo's Great-Great Grandma and her Great-Grandpa. It was a spur of the minute trip and we realized we needed someone to watch Sawyer. Luckily, my friend Allison was willing to house/dog sit for us (again)! From what I hear, I think Sawyer might actually be sad that we are home. He went nearly everywhere with her...met new friends, tried out new parks and lots of other fun things that he has not had the chance to do since the new arrival in our house.


Yep, I think he had fun! Jessica took these awesome pictures of Sawyer and co. at the park. If you like to look at pretty pictures, then you must go take a peek at her photography blog.

Haiti

{image via Amelia Lyon Photography}

I stumbled upon the blog for Amelia Lyon Photography over a year ago. Shortly thereafter I had one of those weird blogging moments. You know, one of those moments where you completely recognize someone and think that you know them. And then you realize you only know them through their blog. Then you have to decide if you want to say something and possibly come off as a complete weirdo or just go about your merry way without saying a thing. Amelia and Justin, the husband and wife photography team, live near Adam's sister in California. Luckily when I ran into them, Justin was very nice and I didn't end up regretting my decision to say hi.

Anyway, the point to all of this is...have you seen Justin's photos and read the stories from his recent trip to Haiti? So emotional and so beautiful. You must check out his post.

Fill Light

A few Fridays ago I decided to take a Photo 101 Crash Course from Nicole Hill. I really wanted to learn a bit more about lighting. I love the light in Nicole's photos, so who better to take from?! I would definitely recommend this class if you're interested in learning how to shoot on manual. It was a bit of a review for me since I've been shooting manual for a little bit now, but it's always good to refresh and hear tips from a different source. And the lighting portion was just what I was hoping for! We learned great/easy/cheap tips to use when working with natural light.

Here are some photos of the models, who are Nicole's gorgeous younger sisters. We took turns stepping in a snapping some photos of these girls, but oddly enough, my favorite pictures are the ones where I was just metering so I would be ready for my "turn".
You can see one of the great secrets we learned during the class for fill light. Foam board!



Nicole's classes are being held across the US, as well as Art Weekends, full of tons of different amazing classes. Check it out here.