Merry Christmas . . . especially for Markus, Sarah & Family :)

Merry Christmas morning! :) We're finished up with breakfast and presents here - and I thought that before we head over to Matt's parent's house that I'd upload some pictures from last night (Christmas Eve at my parents' house) and this morning . . . especially because then Sarah, Markus and their kids can see us . . . missing them as we celebrated. :) We love you guys!! So this is mostly a long blog of pictures - and probably most of them are WAY off in color, and I'm sorry - but until I've got things calibrated you'll have to look at it this way - I'll go back and fix the bad ones later when I can see how bad they are - I promise! ;)

First off - Baby Nixon - growing big and strong! :)



And now to the Christmas Eve celebrations, from last night . . . Micah got batteries from Lydia . . . Sarah I wish you could have seen his face and I WISH I had been ready with the camera - it was SO SO SO FUNNY!! HE was like - WHAT THE . . . ??? :) ha ha! Eventually he realized that these were HIS batteries and he could do what he wanted - that made him happier :)



Ella helping Grampy Tim...



Papa/G-G ...



Mom and dad :) (Mom won't like this picture . . . sorry mom!)



Dad and Mimi ... MAN my colors are WONKY - so sorry!!! :)



Ella with a present



And now from today, Christmas morning . . .









And my handsome hubby with his hot new beard (I got a beard trimmer for Christmas . . . for ME . . . hahaha!) That way he can't get rid of it ;)

Sleep, sleep baby . . .

Yesterday my mom asked me if I had any pictures of the kids sleeping. I do, but they're all old - and as Ella napped yesterday I snapped a few of her. She has grown so much in the last 3 years - sometimes I look at her and don't recognize her as the same baby girl I held in my arms! Sometimes I don't even recognize her from the same little girl I held a month ago - time goes too fast. :( So I took a few of her beautiful eyes . . . her sweet nose . . . her round cheeks that will all-too-soon slim out and grow up.

Then last night I came home from being out with a girl friend to find both of the kids asleep in Ella's bed. (They have slept together in her "big bed" since she moved out of the crib - they are so sweet and there's a relatively short time when it's "ok" to do that, you know??) :) They were piled up on top of each other (and under ALL the blankets, sweating away, so I took off the blankets and gave them some space. A little while later I came back to find Ella sideways and Micah as innocent as I've ever seen him - and had to snap a few more. :) So these are for my mom . . . and for me too, I'm glad she asked for them!















(also, please excuse any errors in color/processing - my new computer is running AWESOME and I am LOVING my new programs . . . but I have yet to calibrate the monitor and so am working rather "blind" as to what is right and wrong with the brightness/contrast and color on my monitor. So if it's off . . . SORRY! :) In the next day or so I'll be completely finished and stuff will look "normal" again. ;)

Levi W - he's here!! (or rather, there...)

Welcome to the world little Levi! This is my, uh . . . sort-of nephew. It's my cousin's baby - well, you know what? He will just BE my nephew. I'll happily claim him! :) Heather delivered him on Wednesday and they got home on Friday of last week. I'm not sure if this will work - to totally STEAL her picture from her blog - but I wanted to share something. She took and posted these the other day - check out her blog for some more pictures - but isn't he GORGEOUS?!? Lucky boy that he has such a talented photographer for a mama, eh? :)

NOT TAKEN BY ME! PICTURE BEAUTIFULLY CAPTURED BY HEATHER - LUCID IMAGING! :)


You can find Heather's blog here - http://lucidimaging.blogspot.com/ - and keep an eye out for some more beautiful baby pictures from her. Congratulations Heather and Dave! I am SUPER excited for you both - and good job on making an incredibly cute baby!! ;)

A Name for Baby #3

Well, I haven't mentioned much about this pregnancy on the blog - mostly because I've been so busy these last few months that I tend to forget I'm even pregnant. Occasionally I'll feel that little bumping around and am reminded that I'm not alone. :) With Micah, the moment they gave me the "go ahead" to get my ultrasound, I had it scheduled within hours. Ella - well, it probably took me a day or two. Poor baby #3. This little peanut is a big "unknown" and it's all my fault. :) Almost 2 months ago I was given the script for the ultrasound (we're getting a level 2 ultrasound because of previous complications in my pregnancies - which just means that I can't go to a "regular" place to do it and it takes longer to schedule) - and for almost TWO MONTHS I have forgotten to call. At my last doctor's visit they asked me AGAIN if I was ever going to go - so I figured it was in my best interest to get on it.

I can't really call it "procrastinating" because I HONESTLY am not procrastinating! I just can't REMEMBER! :) Anyway, there's no way to find out before the holidays and we'll be waiting until at least January 5th - unless there's a cancellation ahead of time. There is some SERIOUS pressure from certain somebodies around me who INSIST that it is in my best interest to find out soon "who" is in there. :) I figure that the third time around, with already a boy and a girl, and since I already "know" the date that this little one will come (repeat c-section is already scheduled so unless there are complications we're headed for April 27th!) . . . so my "only" surprise this time around would be WHO is in there. :) Those somebodies have been forewarned. They may get to peek at my envelope with the answer inside . . . but as of right now I don't want to know. :) I want to be surprised. And if they screw up and accidently spill the beans . . . well, that's OK too. Of course this is all depending upon my ability to hold out another 19 weeks - which is definately something I wouldn't bet on!

OK - the point of this LONG and blabbering post . . . Ella has come up with a name for the baby. :) She makes me laugh! They have turned down all of the names we've discussed - either they're not "cool" enough (like Jasper or Target - WHO would name their kid Target?? Micah would!!) - or they're not special (like using our friend's name, Ethan or Emily - I tried to explain, they're already taken!) . . . but they have their reasons for turning down our names we like. Fortunately for us (not for them I guess) WE - Matthew and I - get to choose the name. He turns down most of my favorites, but I'm sure we'll come to some sort of compromise. It won't be the first time!

So Ella comes in this morning and wakes me up VERY early - like 5am early. She tells me this, "Mama - Mama - I have a name for your baby - is a weally (really) GOOD name!" I ask her - "What is it?" And she smiles and says, "Jesus!" Haha - what a sweet heart - her little self is already in love with Jesus - she is very excited to celebrate Jesus' birthday on Christmas - excited to get presents on His birthday. :) She also likes to remind me that "Jesus died on the cross for my sins Mama". I'm not sure what kind of real understanding she has - or if she's just parroting at this point - but either way, it makes my heart smile to hear. She really WOULD love to name this baby Jesus!

Well, Micah heard us talking about it this afternoon and said - "No, no, no! We can't name the baby Jesus. There already IS a Jesus. We don't need two Jesus'!" So that settles it - There is only ONE Baby Jesus . . . and whoever is kicking around inside me ISN'T it. :) Merry Christmas, if I don't post between now and then!

We're home and *mostly* unpacked :)

Yes, we arrived last night around 9pm - it was a long day of driving, especially since we stopped about every hour to use the restroom. (This was NOT my fault either - they tried to blame it on the pregnant chick but it was actually the KIDS who made us stop the most!) :) After we almost had to pull over for Ella to use the "trees" (as she called it) - I thought seriously about not feeding them or letting them drink the rest of the day. :D BUT, I'm not THAT kind of mother! :)

We didn't take very many pictures while in Tennessee this time - it rained the first couple of days, the kids were sick (Micah most of the time), I had a lovely bout of morning/noon/night sickness (yay!), and in general, we didn't "do" much. :) We did take some pictures one day in the woods but I don't have those - they are on my Father-in-law's camera, so maybe I'll get to see them someday, but not now. I just had a few and thought I'd share. One "storyboard" of the kids as we travelled along - they really were SUCH good travelers! We did not watch that much TV - they were able to look outside, tell stories with us, play with their toys, color - they kept themselves busy and that was great.

The other couple of pictures are just of Ella. Sh ewas playing one morning and I got a little sad because she has chnaged SO MUCH in the last few weeks . . . I almost didn't recognize her that morning, she was doing such "big girl" things. So I sneaked some pictures while she was playing. :)

Enjoy and I'll be back to my "regular" posting shortly I hope! :) Oh - and in "other news" - my computer is still not completely functional - hopefully after a rebuild I'll be able to proceed "normally". This whole virus thing STINKS! :(

Outta here!

We're heading out! Any minute now (as soon as my in-laws arrive) we are headed to Tennessee! I'm so excited - we go every year as a small group and it's so much fun! Relaxing, COLD, the boys get to hike in the mountains, we all take little walks in the woods . . . games at night . . . I can't wait! (Oh and there's this GREAT little candy shop that makes the BEST chocolate covered raisens!!) :) YUM

I will be out of town for the next little bit so if you need me, try emailing. I will attempt to keep in touch as I can, but know that my internet access is sketchy at best. :) Outlet malls . . . HERE I COME!!!!! :) (OK so I'm not seriously driving to TN to go to the outlets malls, we have like 4 right here . . . but I am looking forward to an afternoon or two of wandering with my Mother-in-law) :)

See ya!

The Ramos Family

The Ramos family and I met up on Thursday and what a beautiful day it was! I am convinced I have the most beautiful families to photograph - sure they all look GREAT but they are such awesome people, time and time again. :) The Ramos family was no exception!

We met at Casa Feliz which is my new favorite place to photograph. I've been here several times recently with clients but this family was especially lucky to actually know the owners - and they allowed us IN the house to photograph. :) (Can you hear me squealing with joy?)

Jase definately wasn't certain what to think of me - a little shy when he looked into my camera - but all of those smiles for mama and dad are as genuine as they come. :) He turned 1 early this week - so Happy (late) Birthday Jase! :) I hope you guys enjoy the preview. :)

Mr. & Mrs. Hodges

On November 1st, I had the priviledge of photographing the wedding of Andy and Beth Hodges. It was a beautiful day, and both of them just radiated love for each other. I did share a preview for them a few weeks ago but recently put together a small slideshow for them and figured I'd share it here too. :) Congrats again, Andy and Beth - on your one month anniversary! :)

The Torres Family & Deserved Consequences . . .

Yesterday was . . . interesting, to say the least. I started out early, heading to a session before church, and on my way I received something unexpected. Fortunately it's no longer Thanksgiving and I don't have to be thankful for it. I'm driving down the road, thinking to myself of ways things I'll try at the session, how Matthew and the kids are faring as they get themselves ready for church without me (no small feat!), thinking of things I need to return to the store and get my money back (yay!) . . . and out in front of me and EIGHT other cars steps a whole slew of police officers.

They politely wave ALL of us into a parking lot and I'm immediately thinking - oh NO! Note to self - do NOT just blindly follow traffic! :( The lady next to me was a SUPERB actress, her tears seemed very real as she explained how she was late and all - and her officer let her go. Lucky dog. I was not so lucky. Perhaps it's because deep down, I'm honest. Yup, I was speeding - I didn't realize I was, but I was, and that's MY fault. So when he asked me for my license and registrations, and then my insurance - I was already FURIOUS with myself for being SO STUPID. Especially when I'm 10 minutes away from being late.

He goes off to check my information and comes back to talk about the ticket with me. He says something like, do you know how fast you were going? And I politely (and honestly) replied with, "Faster than 35??" - No, I was NOT trying to be witty or disrespectful, but I had seen a sign a while back that said 35 and even though I APPARENTLY paid no heed to it, it was there and I'd seen it. He says, "Oh. So you DID know you were speeding." I looked at him kinda sheepishly and said, "No, not really, but that's my own fault." WHY could I have not burst into tears, stuck out my baby belly some more and tried some nice dramatics on him?? Stinkin' hormones. They weren't helping me out at ALL. I always figured I'd be a cryer if I ever got pulled over - I figured I'd be incoherent and they'd end up hauling me off to jail just to wait until I'd calmed down enough to hold a conversation. But no. Instead, I'm calm, sad, REALLY mad at myself, and inside thinking "I've got to GO I'm going to be late!"

He hands me my ticket, reminds me to watch my speed and off I go. All before 9am - most expensive morning of my life. And nobody to be mad at but ME. (and believe me, I am VERY mad at me!!)

Fortunately for me, the Torres family was running a bit late and we met up without any more "incidents". What a lovely family! They truly made my morning brighter - and little Aliana was just too beautiful to not get all mushy over . . . I'm so glad we had that time together. :) They were quite understanding of my foolishness and more than happy to laugh with me at myself and then continue without further comment. :) The best kind of people!

Alex and Diana - it was really nice to finally meet you guys - I'm sorry my morning was so dramatic and I was a little "off" at first. Thanks for putting up with my blank stares at first and helping me get over myself. :D You have one of THE MOST beautiful baby girls I have ever seen (if I could put my order in for what my little girl would look like, I'd model her right after Aliana!!) - and even though she's not as little as she was 3 months ago, she is probably, if it's possible, cuter than ever at this age. :) I hope you like your preview!