365: WEEK 52

I did it. Friends, I DID IT. I took a photo every. single. day. in 2014. This whole experience has been overwhelming and beautiful and enlightening. I've learned to shoot from new angles. I've learned to shoot in new light. I've learned to shoot with spontaneity. I've laughed. I've cried. I've grown. This has been one of the most exhausting goals that I have ever undertaken, but I am so grateful that I have been able to accomplish it. I will be able to look back on 2014 and visually see where life has taken me. I can't wait to have a book made of all of these photos; it will be something that I treasure always. My favorite image of the week: December 27th - Future Occupations. These littles have been the subject of my work for a majority of this past year. It has been AMAZING to see how much they have grown and how their personalities have developed. I wish I had the energy to do this always, just to capture them. Maybe in a few years...

BE MERRY

These kids. I love them to pieces. And I'm so excited to help create the magic that they get to experience at this time of year. I hope your holiday season is just as wonderful as ours.

365: WEEK 51

This week has been beyond busy - in the best of ways. ZooLights. Family Christmas dinner. Family Christmas breakfast. Christmas Sunday. Temple lights. Luckily, I am a tad bit obsessive about planning and organization - which means we actually get to enjoy these events with very little stress. A perk, since our evenings have slowly gone downhill since December hit. My favorite image of the week: December 22nd - O Tannenbaum. I tried to get the baby to show interest in the Christmas tree at the very beginning of the month so I could snag a picture like this. But he hated the tree. Would not - COULD NOT - get a picture like this. Then, magically, he changed his mind. And has been rearranging my ornaments since. I just love the look on his face in this picture. Coincidentally, he had just learned to say, "oh" that day.

365: WEEK 50

Guys. Today is my birthday. One more year until I am thirty. Which mostly feels crazy to say. Thirty. THIR-TY. Do you want to know something? I am actually looking forward to turning thirty. I'll be entering a new phase of life and I am okay with that. One might even say I am excited for it. So I am going to enjoy this last year to its fullest and enter my thirties happily. Which may or may not start with me no longer caring about whether I complete my 30 before thirty... My favorite image of the week: December 10th - Play House. Sometimes I forget that we have a backyard. We've spent so much time out front with friends and bikes that the three billion toys out back have been neglected. Like this wonderful little playhouse. So when we had a friend visit the other day, we invited him to play in our backyard. The littles were delighted.
I would have favored the Christmas Book image if the mr. didn't look so annoyed with the children. Which he very much was at that moment. And possibly with me, also, for the whole 365-photo thing...

LIQUID

Honesty time. It has been suuuuuper difficult to follow through with the end of this semester of preschool. Excruciatingly difficult. So we've simplified or skipped more days than I'd like to admit. Take, for example, our liquids unit. I had to force myself to follow through. On our best preschool day that week, we did a number of awesome activities. I'd love to tell you it was fun and carefree, but that'd be a stretch. By the end of our lessons, I was about in tears from stress. But hey, at least the pictures turned out great. And that's all that really matters, right? Just kidding.
How was this stressful, you ask? A highly OCD mom + kids playing willy-nilly with food coloring = unimaginable stress...

365: WEEK 49

I love December. Maybe it's because it's my birth month. Maybe it's because the weather is perfect. Or maybe it's because Christmas is right around the corner. Either way, this is my favorite time of year. Even if the littles get a tad crazier than normal. We have been doing a lot of playing outdoors and christmas activities to help minimize the extra energy. Some days are great. Some are just miserable. But we are trying our best and that's what matters. My favorite image of the week: December 9th - Christmas Cards. It's not THIS picture that I love, but the picture within the picture. One Sunday a few weeks ago, I put the kids in their Christmas jammies after church for a quick photo shoot. And by quick, I mean 5 minutes total. Every single photo was amazing. The kids were beyond silly and laughing the whole time, so it was just perfect. Disclaimer: THIS NEVER HAPPENS. Ever. They are usually at their worst in front of the camera. I'm pretty sure that they HATE my camera after a year of having a it shoved in their face on a daily basis. So this was a miracle. I'll be posting some of their Christmas jammies photos soon...

365: WEEK 48

Christmas shopping/projects? Done. Client photo editing? Done. Holiday baking? Done (for a couple of weeks, anyway). It feels wonderful to be done. I can just BE with my littles. Sew a couple of things for the new baby. Enjoy the fun things our elf has up his sleeve. Attempt to finish the fall semester of preschool strong (no guarantees). Needless to say, December should be relatively stress-free. Which is good because I am finally feeling pregnant. Very pregnant. My favorite image of the week: December 1st - Sassy Girl. I adore my little girl. I wanted a girl from the very beginning, but had to wait a while for her to join our family. She is so many things: beautiful. Sassy. Adorable. Loving. Stubborn. Silly. It has been fun to watch her grow. I can't wait to see how she interacts with her baby sister.

365: WEEK 47

I have been pushing myself so hard to finish editing clients' photos that I feel like I've had little time for anything else. Like blogging. The one thing that I HAVE been doing is taking every opportunity to get our family outdoors. We have been riding bikes. Playing with friends. Drawing with sidewalk chalk. Going to the zoo. Anything to be outside. This weather is why I live in Arizona. That, and a million other reasons... My favorite image of the week: November 23rd - Comfort Blanket. This little guy is seriously such a joy. He is always happy. When he IS in need of a little extra comfort, we can just toss him his binky and blanket and the kid is content. He loves to twirl the corner of the blanket right under his nose, just like I did when I was a baby. It melts my heart.

365: WEEK 46

Long week. Photo editing. Crazy kids. Design work. These are my excuses for not posting earlier. I'm exhausted. But that comes with five littles/pregnancy/holidays. Now that ALL of my Christmas shopping is done - down to stocking stuffers and elf hijinx supplies - I think things will balance out a little. Or at least that is my hope. My favorite image of the week: November 13th - Sweet Stroll. Last Thursday was a day for passing out flowers to a couple dear neighbor-friends who were celebrating birthdays of loved ones who have passed away. This photo is a flash back to one taken in January. I cannot get over how Nene has grown.