One Year Photoshoot

 So I got this UBER cute tank top from Duck Worth Wearing- a consignment store for kids and maternity stuff, and I knew I wanted to photograph her in it, she looks great it whites and greens.  So anyway, we had an impromptu photo shoot while Jerod was gone for an away game.  I love that we have these huge windows in our living room that let in so much natural light, it is the perfect place to shoot.  I just push the chaise lounge back, hang a fuzzy blanket over it and the carpet and try to keep her corralled there and laughing for as long as I can!

We got this one pretty quick at the beginning, I think I was demeaning myself to crazy faces and pretending like every time she touched me it shocked me- whatever works, right?

Lola!  Get out of the picture and off of my carpet!

Candid.  Love.

A few days later we took a few more photos in a different outfit and using a different background- although I think she tends to look better with more natural colors, you could make the argument that she just always looks cute :)

My absolute favorite photo from all of them- her eyes look so blue and the lighting is perfect, all I had to do was crop out the diaper parts poking out of the top of her bubble shorts.

Read more...

Early Harvest

We have begun to harvest some more veggies from our garden- the first garden I've had since we moved here!  I planted broccoli, romaine lettuce, onions, tomatoes, sweet peppers, jalapenos, and carrots.  I think next year we will skip out on the broccoli as it swallows space in the garden.  Also, if you don't know, you get one big head of broccoli from each plant and then each one religiously produces small shoots for a long time, you get a lot of produce from it considering 9 plants only cost about two bucks, but you really have to keep up with harvesting it.  We used green onions in several dishes in late spring/early summer, and then let the rest grow to become white onions.  I love fresh produce and my goal is to be able to have enough to provide some freezer food for over the fall or winter- we'll see about that in the future!

I like to pick some of the tomatoes a little early so that they ripen inside, I find if I pick them too late they are a little too soft for using on sandwiches or for sauteing in recipes.

Notice the carrots on the very top, I dug them up that way all twisted up and hugging each other- so cute!

Read more...

Our first First Birthday!

This weekend we celebrated Cailyn's first birthday with our families!  It was fantastic, even though it was sweltering!  We decided since she's so little it was probably okay to just have close family members for this birthday, we didn't want to scare her by having too many people around that she didn't really know.  Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and even some great aunts and a second cousin, were in attendance to help us wish our baby girl a wonderful birthday and a happy second year of life.  I became semi-obsessed with making photo pages because I didn't want to have to upload a bajillion photos to the blog for this post, plus I have been creating a mixbook for her first year and love all the photo layouts they have :)

We had a relaxed BBQ before opening gifts, singing "Happy Birthday", and eating cake and ice cream.  We also took our fourth family photo- which reminded me we've never had a nice one taken, you know, the kind you put in a frame over your couch or something, I think this is necessary now.

 

I was up until 1:00am making that cake- it was an adventure for sure- I'm glad "pastry chef" isn't my title.  We decorated with penant swag cut from scrapbooking paper, and I saw online an idea for hanging photos from each month of her first year- loved it!  I also added a canvas she painted for Daddy to hang in his office at school up on the shelf in the background.

Family photo number 4

She received so many cute dresses and outfits, I think about 5 or 6 books, this fun Dora lawn chair, and that great singing coupe car (thanks Grandma Jacque and Grandpa Mark- just kidding, she loves it and that's all that matters I guess)

 

She also was given her own baby doll with a car seat from Grandma and Papa Brown, and Aunt Mandy gave her a personalized photo story and a crib/high chair set to go along with her new baby.  She is so cute with it, giving the baby kisses and pretending to feed her.  Good practice for if there's every a new Baby Brown in the future!  (By the way, the baby doll package was the first time we've had to untwist ties or cut straps that hold dolls in- a milestone for us as parents of a girl)

 

First bite of birthday cake....and last shot before getting cleaned up, I'd say she finished almost half of her jumbo cupcake, the floor got the rest.

Down for the count- partying is hard work!

Read more...

Playing catch up

Wow, the summer is just getting away from me!  I meant to be so much better at blogging, but it seems when I'm out of routine I don't remember to do all my usual stuff.  So I guess I"ll just share a couple photos from what we've been up to, which is baseball and nothin', and leave it at that.

 When she's not trying to escape onto the field during the game, she loves to shake the fence and "cheer" for the boys.  Go Trojans!

 Cailyn with Twin 1: Blake (she hasn't gotten her hands on him yet, she's usually a little too generous with her affections- she comes on a little strong)

 And Twin 2: Bowen, she loves to be around these guys, I'm sure they'll have more fun playing together as they get older

While my parents and siblings were on vacation to D.C. we dog-sat for them.  This is Lola, and Cailyn was always afraid of her, but after having her around for over a week, she became quite comfortable with her and this past week, since Lola and the kids are with us, she was even giving her hugs :)

This is a sneak peek of her one year photos, I took them a couple weeks early so that I would have time to get prints made for family members coming for her birthday party this weekend.  She make it so easy because she's incredibly photogenic, thank goodness she got her Daddy's dimples, too.  They make you melt every time!

Read more...