New packaging

 I had been investigating new packaging for my clients, when I saw a fellow photog friend share a link to one of her photog friends page that showed cute fabric wrapped packaging .  I thought it was the cutest idea ever, and felt like it really suited my style in general, and in photography.  So I will admit it, I stole the idea. 

I had a date with my girlfriend Kim who is amazing at sewing, where she taught me how to make these lil gems. I added some buttons and went crazy one evening and sewed a bunch -up.

I just love em!

So next time you receive your disc of photos, they will come in one of these! :

Waiting for baby....

One of my friends bought her girlfriend my newborn/ maternity package for her as a shower gift,  and I met her and the hubby in Vancouver over the weekend. From the first moment I met them, I could literally feel their love and excitement radiating through them. They were so down to Earth, and I just thoroughly enjoyed my time with them. I can't wait to hear what baby is ( I think girl ;) and take their newborn pictures for them. 

Not much longer till there is a baby in your arms G and K!! 

  K had a great idea to do some nude belly shots, as I was editing them I kicked myself for not doing some myself during my pregnancies ( there's always next time right? ) 

To me, it is the definition of beauty; your body expanding to grow, nurture and house your unborn. 

Your body that gives your baby life.

How beautiful is that?

I only posted two, as the others are too revealing for the blog World. But I could have done this entire post of just them.

K, Thank-you for you confidence and natural beauty. You will make amazing parents to one lucky little boy or girl :)

Vintage styled tea party

Today I looked after 5 kids.  Two of my own and three that I borrowed for the day, o.k Mom was working and needed me to watch them, but they really are so good that today felt like a breeze.

 I had the idea a few months back to do a vintage themed tea party photo shoot. I started dreaming up ideas and how it would look ( which is the funnest part of it all don't - cha think?) 

Since I have three beautiful nieces I knew they would make my dreams become reality. Plus I know Mom wanted some new up-dated pictures of them.

 The weather was tempermental today so I didn't think it was gonna work, but early this morning, the clouds parted and we decided last minute to follow through with it. So there we were; 3 girls, and one little boy piled in my bathroom ( as timing would have it, Dion was napping ) dresses were scattered everywhere, make-up was out and the smell of perfume and hairspray filled the room ( I really got my girl fix today )

I didn't have all the ideas I wanted put together, but I'm happy with how they turned out and I must say these little princesses are gorgeous:

I'm kinda in love with this below picture:

Add caption

And possibly one of my favourite photos of all time..... wait for it......

Emily is the youngest, and boy does she know it! She has more personality than she knows what to do with. She loves babies and anything that yells out " I'm a girl " She has eyes the colour of the hawaiian ocean and eyelashes that curl and wisp like she's wearing mascara. 

Andrea the middle treasure, who is almost 8.  She is a true  girly - girl like her auntie, who works hard at everything she does and is just a kind girl, who, may I add has the perfect hair;  thick and blonde that can curl or go straight

Rachel is almost 10, who has the most beautiful think eye lashes you have ever seen, who loves animals,  and has a kind, nurturing heart that will take her places in life. 

And my little boy who was a trooper today who put -up with all our girly stuff...

101 in 1001

So, I know it seems like everyone is doing it; the " 101 things to do in 1001 days" ( which in case your wondering, is 2.75 years) But I kinda love the idea, and since I am a neurotic list maker as it is, I thought it would be right up my ally... I usually keep all these ideas and " dreams"  bunched up in my brain, making a mental check list of things I want to do, and feeling satisfied when I have, but seeing them written down, will make crossing them off that much more gratifying.

 I also plan to make sure I take a picture to go along with it, and will keep ya'll updated along the way.

Now go on and make your own list, and start making your dreams reality;)

Here is a site that can track it for you:

http://dayzeroproject.com/

Here we go...

#1  Go to New York
#2 See a Opera
#3 Have more date nights with my husband
#4 Read my bible more
#5 Have a lemonade stand
#6 Pray more for people
#7 Get family photos done
#8 Feel content with the fact that I will never catch -up, I'll never feel organized enough, my house never clean enough and that it's really o.k. that it never will...
#9 See Celine Dion in Las Vegas
#10 Do a photography workshop
#11 Have a picnic with my family
#12 Cry more during moments in life then those in books, movies, and pointless shows
#13 Buy a bike
#15 Learn to ski
#16 Go on a vacation with my hubby sans kids
#17 Finish my website
#18 Get business cards
#19 Visit the Grand Canyon
#20 Get impregnated with baby #3!!
#21 Spend less time on facebook
#22 Volunteer at church
#23 Become more of a morning person
#24 Go for a walk everyday
#25 Buy a domaine name
#26 Go on a date with Levi only
#27 Take better care of my skin
#28 Enjoy every sunny day to it's fullest, even if it means messing up nap times,  and not getting house work done.
#29 Have more patience
#30 Stop judging others
#31 Keep my car cleaner
#32 Re-kindle my relationship with my sister
#33 Visit / connect with my Grandparents more
#34 Drink more water
#35 Go to church more
#36 Do a random act of kindness
#37 Go to L.A and see the city and all it has to offer, and take a picture of the " HOLLYWOOD" sign
#38 Ride more
#39 Pay more attention to my dog
#40 Improve my posture
#41 Go " camping" in our backyard
#42 See a broadway production in New York
#43 Fly a kite
#44 See a movie at a drive -in theatre
#45 " Park it" with my husband, just like the good ol days;)
#46 Take a picture that will take my breath away
#47 Listen more, and answer better to my kids,  even if they are telling me something completely random and un important.
#48 Stop looking at text messages when I'm driving
#49 Listen more, talk less
#50 Write neater
#51 Use my cloth diapers more
#52 Buy my husband a new wedding band
#53 Make better, safer decisions when it comes to products for the kids, and for us
#54 Eat dinner earlier
#55 Get acupuncture
#56 Wear matching bras and panties, guaranteed to make anyone feel sexier, even on on a " ugly " day
#57 Send someone flowers
#58 Wear red lipstick
#59  Watch all our home videos
#60 Make our home more comfy;  blankets, rugs, lamps, classical music and candles..
#61 Fall asleep in the sun
#62 Throw a costume party
#63 Go trail riding
#64 See a Thunderbird show
#65 learn how to keep Basil alive
#66 Sew better
#67 Give my husband a " all about him" night
#68 Enjoy every moment of my last 3 months of mat leave, and not take it for granted
#69 Watch a chick flick from back in the day.. hmm maybe clueless.. or...cruel intentions.. or... She's all that..
#70 Go on vacation to one of the Gulf Islands
#71 Have coffee at the first ever Starbucks in Seattle
#72 Take pictures of the many, many ideas that seem to be exploding in my head
#73 Get my old home videos converted to DVD
#74 Plan my kids birthday parties
#75 Make Dion his one year slideshow ( thinking about this gave me a gut wrenching feeling in my stomach )
#76 Say " yes" to something that I normally wouldn't do
#77 Break open my diary that I taped together when I was younger and read it
#78 Go to bed earlier
#79 Call Ang more
#80 Text less, and talk more
#81 Eat in more often
#82 See Lindsay more
#83 Buy property
#84 Walk barefoot through a cold creek
#85 Spend more time outside, than inside
#86 Take pictures in a photo booth
#87 Take a vacation with just my girlfriends.. New york anyone??
#88 Laugh until I cry
#89 Not say anything negative for a week
#90 Become more tech savvy
#91 Grow out Levi's hair to see how curly it would be
#92 Put out a slip and slide for the kids, and slide down it as well!
#93 Carve our family names into a tree
#94 Stop swearing
#95 See a movie in 3D
#96 Take Levi to a movie at the theatre
#97 Expand my vocabulary
#98 Learn how to properly use a semicolon
#99 Go a day at home without turning the T.V on
#100 Watch my kids wholeheartedly at random moments, and engrain it in my mind so I never forget how small they once more
#101 Complete this list!!!

And what's a post without some pics :

Let's feather their NEST

My girlfriend Marie just had baby #2,  a sweet baby boy . 

We wanted to celebrate his arrival so we planned a " let's feather their nest" baby shower. 

We had so much fun thinking of ideas, everyone contributed and I think it turned out B-E-A - utiful!

The colours were teal and white, with a splash of rainbow;)

Baby socks in a egg carton!

Kim made the table runner and the napkins. She as always,  did such a good job and chose the perfect fabric to match the theme and decor. If you want her to create something for you visit her  facebook page HERE

And the man of the hour, handsome baby Beckett.....

And the fine ladies...

I just love the  above picture of Marie, nursing, drinking wine and socializing. Now thats multi - taking at it's finest!

I wanted to give Marie a gift certificate, but I always wished it seemed more like a " gift" and that it didn't seem like I took the lazy route and just got something that was easy, and thoughtless. 

I found this idea on a blog and thought it was just so darn cute! It's pretty much a " snow globe" but you put the gift certificate inside a mason jar, with sparkles and little jewels floating around inside.

Marie we are so happy for the addition of your new little man to your family. 

We are blessed to call you our friend, we hope you had a wonderful evening, and that you felt celebrated and loved. 

xoxoxo

Retro Chair

 

So I found this retro vintage chair at MCC a few weeks ago. 

I saw it and though it would make a neat photo prop for a session in the future.
The best part of all, it only cost $3 !

A new season of change...

So - change is upon me.

 I have felt it creeping in on my life, trying to rear its ugly head for a few weeks now.

  I've tried to put it out of my mind, to not think about it until I have to, and well - now I have to.

If you remember;  I don't do well with change.

So here they are, the new changes I'm still trying to wrap my head around..

Reason #1:

 My baby is 8 months old now....

He's getting bigger. His body looks long in my arms, When I look at him in sleeping in his crib he looks like he finally fits in it. 

He says " Da Da", he eats solids - like real food, our food.

 He rolls around the house, he crawls backwards..

And oh yea - 

He finally sleeps through the night.

I feel like his " baby - ness" is slipping away from me . I know what lies ahead in the growing bigger journey and I'm just not ready.  

But I can't slow down time so I'm gonna roll with it, and try to embrace what "growing older" will mean, to imagine what it will look like "then" and just know no matter how old my kids get, they we always be my babies. 

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Reason #2:

My BFF, my mommy friend, my sista from another motha, my maternity leave partner is going back to work tomorrow.

How will I get through the summer without her?!

We talk every morning, we text each other all day. We see one another at least three times a week. 

We do Mommy things, we have coffee dates, play dates. Random, spur of the moment stop by each other's house kinda things.

We really do everything together.

And I'm afraid life won't be the same without her. 

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Reason #3

Berry Season is just around the corner.

I'm pretty sure this is the latest season in history, so we are running on borrowed Daddy and husband time at the moment, and for that I am thankful.

But...

Life without him for 60 days straight, just flat out sucks.

I'm partly traumatized from last year when I was 8 and 9 months pregnant looking after Levi on my own. Having to be the house keeper,  do all the yard work, bring meals, etc. 

 It also didn't help that Levi, who doesn't handle being sick very well,  contracted hand, foot and mouth " disease" and some other random, weird virus later in August that I ended up contracting, that then spread to my eyes..

 I know blah blah blah- poor me...

But I wouldn't want to switch places with him - ever.

I'm thankful that at  least I get to stay at home with the kids, see them and spend time with them. 

Poor Steve doesn't, and he's already said to me how sad he is about all the things he's gonna miss out on.

But we have to remember; this is what pays the bills the rest of the year.

It provides the food we eat, the roof over our head, and gas in our tank. 

But I'm still gonna miss my other half.

My babies Daddy.

The one who helps bath kids, clean - up dinner, and snuggle little ones to sleep.

The one who teaches Levi how to golf and play hockey. 

Who runs around the house for hours playing hide and sneak.

The person who fill in the gaps, where I can not.

Pretty much, he's irreplaceable.

And I thank God for him everyday, because I know I'm so lucky.

And so are our kids.

So  here we are a new season of change...

I don't like it, but its inevitable so let it be.

But, still - Change sucks.