Loving Bella B!

When I first started taking pictures again after a long hiatus from my favorite hobby, I never thought I'd be were I am now. Just for fun I started taking pictures of my friends and family and clearly I had a lot to learn (and still do) but they were all so supportive of me and I have been fortunate to learn more and more as I go along.
Last week I had 4 photo sessions including a wedding and hours upon hours of editing from the previous weeks.
As I look through my portfolio, I am amazed at how far I have come and how my work has evolved in such a short time. I feel truly blessed to be able to do something I love and make a little extra money on the side too.
I feel like I am happy with the amount of work that I have now because my priority hands down are my kids but I so look forward to learning new techniques and meeting new people so that maybe, one day, I can grow my business into something bigger and better.

I love capturing a families memories for them or freezing their little ones innocence forever in time...how many other people can say they have the honor of being a part of something so special. For now I don't really mind that I'm not the best photographer...I know I have a lot to learn. I just love sharing my passion with people and love playing a small role in another families memories.

What I love more than anything in the world though is taking pictures of my kids. Its weird because my reasoning is different with them than it is with other people. Sure its awesome to capture their sweet little expressions so I can always remember the way they are now but with them its more. I truly hope that one day they can look back at the pictures of them that I took and see how I saw them through my eyes, how much love I have for them. They are truly the most amazing blessing and while I love taking other peoples photos, they will always be my favorite subjects hands down.

I definitely look forward to seeing where the future takes me with photography but for now I love where I am with it.

Dear thinner me from a year ago,

I applaud your intentions of wanting to get rid of your bigger size jeans so as to not find yourself "accidentally" fitting in them again. However, you forgot one thing...you were planning on getting pregnant. Which you did. Which leads me to now, starring at all these jeans in my closet that are 1 to 2 sizes too small.
I know that we are still the same person to some degree because I refuse to go buy more jeans in my current size that is 1 to 2 sizes bigger as I am afraid that I will like them and well, not care as much to fit in the smaller ones.
In the mean time I am stuck wearing the same few pairs of pants over and over again which is, in a way, encouraging but maybe leaving yourself a little more variety for that post pregnancy self would have been nice.
Geeze!
Sincerely,
Your future heavier self who can't wait for the rest of this baby weight to fall off!!!

Playtime!

Being a stay at home mom definitely has it's challenges. One of them is finding ways to keep playtime fresh and as educational as possible. I think I am a pretty creative person by nature but often times I find myself getting stale. It's even more of a challenge having a 2.5 month old that can often derail your plans. For that reason I am SO grateful to idea sites like Pinterest and mommy blogs for all the amazing and helpful ideas.
I recently started scheduling out the ideas on the calendar to help to keep me on track and give me something to get Gigi excited about for the next day. I am gonna try to blog periodically and if I remember, take pics to share so that I can hopefully inspire other moms the way I have been inspired.

Example: Book Nook Read and Feed

Today after nap we took a bunch of cozy blankets and pillows and closed off a corner of her room by her book shelf. Than we got a couple bowls and filled them with goodies, popcorn, tangerines, and jelly beans. (She picked the treats)
Then we took her new library books that we got yesterday, cozied up and read. Then she "read" a few books to Jensen and then we sat and made up our own silly stories.
It was great for both Gigi and Jensen because she loves to read and he loves to listen to me read. (I'm very animated...accents and all) which makes both of them laugh. Surprisingly he sits and listens through the whole thing!
It was definitely a great afternoon that was both educational and fun and got Gigi using her imagination all of which make for successful playtime!