One year pictures

Only a month late having them done. Oops. They are unedited from the cd (meaning the prints look nicer as they've been cropped, etc.) but here are some of our favorites. We chose the first 5 to get prints of. But looking through the cd, i question some of our hasty choices. Oh well. A downfall to portrait innovations, for sure. You always wait forever, regardless of your appointment time (we waited over an hour in the fall for her 6 month pics and 55 minutes this time... jeff says its the last time we'll go there on a weekend at least) and then you have to make quick decisions. Well, here they are :-)




That last one is Jeff's favorite. My favorite is the one above it. He didnt like the pig tails. Boo.

These next ones are some that I regret not getting. For example, if i had it to do over, i wouldnt have gotten the 2nd one and instead I would have gotten this one:

This one is hilarious to me... she was laughing so much and having a blast during the shoot :-)And this one just looks sweet to me

All in all, we are pleased with how they turned out. I've been keeping a book of five 5x7's from her 3, 6, 9 and 12 month photo sessions and i'll admit, i'm glad its done. Its great to have and I dont regret it, but it costs a fortune. We started off using master portrait who does the 3,6, 9, 12 month deal where its $20 for the first session which includes your book and first set of 5x7's and then each subsequent session is $15 which again includes the 5x7's but then they went out of business (well, the location in chatanooga tennessee is still operational, they said!... um, thats a bit far, thanks) so we have a hodge-podge of photographers to finish it out. Its beautiful and i love it, but our bank account is glad to see it done :-)

Our Week

Jeff has had the week off which has been nice (for him). I, on the other hand, am still bitter about having to get up and go to work while he enjoys time with Rhyan! (jk, sort of...). I am grateful for my job, dont get me wrong, but i want to be at home when Jeff and Rhyan are at home!

Ok, venting is done. On to the week. Jeff used a day or so to insulate the basement. It looks great and hopefully will keep it warmer down there! He also got some work done on my car (meaning he got the guys at nissan to do work on my car) and its looking/running great! While it was being worked on, we got a loaner of a 2009 altima... nice! It had so much more room!

We had Rhyans pics done by our good friend and great photographer, Christy Martin. I dont feel great about how rhyan did. We did the shoot in a little field off the road and she was totally distracted by every car that went by! But Christy is great and if anyone could get some good shots out of rhyan it would be her. For the most part, though, she did her typical stare down at Christy. Its a good thing her eyes are pretty bc she wasnt smiling much :-( I cant wait to see them, though!

And today we've got Jason and Liz's couple shower. It looks like a great day for it and i'm looking forward to it! Until then, i think we're going to try to head up to the park and enjoy the weather as a family!

I've got some AWFUL spring fever!

6 months! (summary and pics)

Rhyan turned 6 months old last week. and already, i cant remember my life without her. nor do i want to!! she is the sweetest, cutest thing i've ever seen. i love that she has some of both of us in her. some people claim she looks just like one or the other of us, but i love it when people say she looks like both :-). but even when someone says she looks like jeff, i grin. hey, he's a hottie! its certainly not the worst outcome...

Ok, so at 6 months she is:
-still sucking her fingers CONSTANTLY!
-diagnosed w/ reflux
-not sitting very well, because of the reflux :-(
-taking medicine to make that all better... and its working
-waking at 7am
-taking 2 two hour naps and one 1hour
-in bed by 7:45 each night
-eating cereal 2x's a day (um, this will change... tomorrow)
-eating 24 ounces of similac a day
-starting sweet potatos (homemade by me!) tomorrow
-eating prunes occasionally to help her "output"
-laughing at spud and jeff playing! love this!
-loves when you say "mamamamama" or "dadadadada" or "spud, spud, spud" over and over!
-touches my face when i'm feeding her bottle
-plays with my hair (gently!)
-sucks her bottom lip into her mouth and then pops it out to make a weird sound
-still loves her bath!
-grabs at anything she wants to hold :-)
-"tastes" everything
-loves, and i do mean LOVES her daddy (boo! jk)
-loves for me to sing to her
-favorite songs: the wheels on the bus, itsy bitsy spider, head shoulders knees and toes, you are my sunshine, twinkle twinkle little star
-laughs if i say "oh little fly, why do you cry, stuck in a web, soon you will be EATEN!!!" (from the lord of the rings)
-snorts sometimes (yes, its a trait from me...)
-learning to blow raspberrys (occasionally)
-talks so loudly you cant hear the tv or people on the phone (no, shes not deaf)
-almost NEVER cries
-VERY stubborn and strong-willed
-fights physical therapy (she's very strong now!)
-is trying out a sippy cup each day and is doing pretty well!

Thats about it. i'm sure theres more, but i dont want to bore any of you (any more than you already are! haha). On to the good stuff. Her 6 month pics :-)

The pictures are ready!!!

When Rhyan was 4 weeks old, our friend and photographer, Terilynn, did a complementary photo session for us. The pics are now ready to be viewed. Let me just first say that she did a TWO hour session with Rhyan and while I was afraid that she would sleep through the whole thing or fuss, she did neither. She slept for the first 2 or 3 minutes, woke up and wanted to eat and then stayed awake for the ENTIRE shoot. Towards the end, she got fussy (she was ready for a nap), but i think overall she did FANTASTIC.

Click the link below to see our favorites. If you want to see all (400) of the pics, once you are in the favorites page, you can click on "view gallery".

http://hcl.digitaleventpics.com/SC/index.cfm?fuseaction=FavoritesList&favid=587FC797&eid=9158276&fn=OrpheusandAphroditeMusicandPhotography478

Let me know what you think!!