Apparently...

...there's an angry great-grandparent out there that was tired of seeing a distraught one year portrait of Emma on this blog! In an attempt to avoid an unpleasant email, I decided to post some favorite pictures from the past few months/year. I had a grand plan to organize via months...with cute collages and what not. I didn't get far past the planning stage on that one. To be completely honest, my life is one HUGE to-do list! As I was sorting through these pictures, finding some favorites, my mind was racing; "I have orders to fill...pictures to edit, emails to send, scheduling to work on" etc. etc. etc. blah blah blah! I will look back one day and regret not being more consistent on updating this blog. So here it is, for those of you who don't have a Facebook ;-) 

Early morning dance party in Elly's room. She gets killer morning light through those big ole windows! 

I believe it went something like this "WE'RE GOING ON A PARADE...MARCHING, MARCHING, MARCHING!!!" at the top of her lungs, up and down the sidewalk :)

First day at her new school! She LOVES it and can't wait for kindergarten!

Daisy Mae being taunted with a tasty leaf!

Elly started art class last month. She has come home with some beautiful PURPLE creations...can you guess what her favorite color is?

I don't know what I love more about this one...the lashes or those cheeks!!

One of my favorite shots of my girlies :) They have a love like none other... 

...well most of the time. 

There are times that I look at Emma and she has her own "look". Other times I see the spitting image of her sis :)

One more...with the mama (sans make-up!) 

Emma {one year portraits}

This evening (first mistake) Emma and I (second mistake) headed up to our favorite neighborhood church for a quick one year portrait session. So much of my time is spent photographing other sweet one year portraits...and here we are...14 months and I still haven't done hers! It was a lovely evening and the location was as beautiful as it always is. 

So, without further adieu... 

and a little more of this...

*sigh* maybe next week...

Wild and Free

...the perfect way to describe this one. 

Spring sprung up a little early this year...and with spring comes the wildflowers. I may be risking a visit from CPS since I have opted OUT of the "babies in the bluebonnets picture." To some, this may be seen as child abuse and a disservice to their future photo albums. The moment I spotted those wispy yellow flowers all along I30...I was smitten. Is that possible? To be smitten over a photo op? Whatever....I had a vision and a mission to find the perfect field! My perfect field didn't quite work out and we ended up on the side of Jacksboro Hwy, next to a small, old, run down car lot. You never would have known had I not told you that ;) My vision was complete and I couldn't have imagined a better outcome for my girl's 3 year portraits. 3...I just can't believe it.

I love you Ellyson Jean    

Daddy's learning the ropes! All manual baby AND he used his light meter ;)

What??!!

How is it possible that my littlest angel is already 9 months old? Baby Em had her 9 month well child check on Thursday. She's on the same track as her big sis. Weighing in at 20lbs 1oz  and measuring 28 1/2" long. Percentage speaking...80th% for weight and 100th% for length. It seems as though big E always has the same percentages. They are one in the same! There are moments that I look at Emma and see the spitting image of Elly and other times I look at her and think she is all her own...looks wise :) She is full of vocal play with her favorite consonant vowel combo being Mamamama. I love it! I remind Kris daily that she obviously loves her mamamama the most :)  She is crawling all over the place and pulling up on everything in sight. I caught her yesterday STANDING at the coffee table! Sweet girl also has a mouthful of teeth. The bottom two came first followed by the top two incisors. I can see the two front about to poke through. That sweet little smile brings a smile to my face every time I see it! My sweet little vampire :) I can't believe how fast time is flying by. I try to soak it all in but at times it seems as though I can't keep up. In three short months we will be having her first birthday! I just can't handle it! I decided to celebrate our babe's 9 months with a little photo sesh in the tub tonight!   

Oh the personality of this one! Loves her baby Em 99% of the time. She had an early bedtime after chucking a big ole bag of clothes at sister's head. I've got to say...girls got some aim! It was like one of those carnival games where you throw the bean bags at the little clown heads trying to knock them over. Soon enough she'll learn to do that when mommy and daddy are NOT watching!

Dusting it off...

...the blog that is. I'm a little ashamed that it's been two+ months since I last blogged on here! All I can say is that I am oh so BUSY! The photography business pretty much took up all my free time over the last few months. Something had to give and it was this good ole blog of mine. Well, I'm back now and I promise to do better :) 

Elly sure knows how to make her daddy proud...Do they allow tutu's in the LPGA? If Elly has anything to say about it they do! 

Let me out there! I want to play too!

Sweet cousins on Christmas Eve...waiting for the big guy in red to arrive

*I'm in the process of transferring pictures from one place to another. Loving our new Mac...not so much loving learning the ropes of a new computer AND new editing software! More Christmas pictures to come soon, I promise! AND a special blog post for Donna aka Howell. Your letter made my day and Elly made sure to follow through on your request...much to Baby Em's dismay ;)

Good vs. Bad

Good vs. bad. Lets face it...if you're a mom and you say you don't question your mothering skills from time to time, I'm calling your bluff! My aunt Marcie (who I DO miss...maybe she reads the blog??) once told me 'Very rarely, do I go to bed without feeling guilt as a parent' (not verbatim but close :) ) I never really understood that until becoming a mother myself! Hello, my name is Hayley and I suffer from, what I like to call, 'working mom guilt'. But it doesn't stop there...I also suffer from 'when I'm not working and not doing something totally rad with my girls, I feel like I a SHOULD be doing something totally rad with girls guilt'. There's no turning it off! There will always be SOMETHING that I could have "done" to make me a better mom. I should have had more patience when Elly was screaming "I WANT MICKEY MOUSE!!!"...I shouldn't have raised my voice when I replied with "HOW DO YOU ASK NICELY??!!"...I should have taken the time to load up and go the park...I could go on and on. Last night I decided to put a penny in the 'good mom' bank and have some craft time with my big E! Thanks to Caroline for the craft idea :)

 For those who truly know me, I didn't even get crazy neurotic with the mess! No wet wipes in sight :)

A little appetizer...nice

Tape on paper, finger paint, remove tape and voila! This is as far as we got. Elly FREAKED out when I started to take the tape off. Insert neurotic mommy...I couldn't stand the unfinished product and took the tape off after Elly went to bed :) Which I did NOT feel guilty about when my head hit my pillow last night :)

*On a sweet little side note*

My sweet little 6 month old! LOVES sitting up and is quite a champ at it! Weighing in at juuuust under 18 lbs. Shes healthy to say the least :)

Today...

...was a good day! Yesterday ended a little shaky with a fever and a not so happy big girl. We had a rough night but Cutie woke up a brand new girl! We headed to the Dr. to make sure there wasn't an underlying issue, then spent the day enjoying each other. Elly enjoyed putting on a talent show for her sister, and Emma enjoyed all the attention she got from her big sis. Even if it did include a feather pen tickling her face! As for me, I enjoyed sitting back and watching my girls :)  

We started dance last week and ever since Elly has been insistent on wearing her full dance get-up! She makes me sit down on her rug and rattles off this..."Ladies and gentlemen! The show is about to begin!" Where she learned this? I have NO idea! After she finishes prancing around me she demands, "Mama, clap for me!" So...I clap and tell her she's the most beautiful "ballablina" I've EVER seen :)

Elly made her way through the sea of pillows to her toy basket. Half way there she cried out, "Mama! Get me outta here, I'm kinda stuck!" It didn't stop her from pulling every toy from said basket... 

The day ended with a little bit of bed jumping. Which we all know can solve all illness and worldly issues :)

*Hopefully my next blog post won't take me another month and a half! Early bedtime has trumped the blog the last month :)