Posted on March 9, 2010
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03/06/2010
This is my best friend’s little girl as well as my girl’s best friend. She’s got the most gorgeous brown eyes in the world!
We all went to the Life and Science Museum today. Well, as my daughter calls it, the “Dinosaur Museum”. They have actually created a fossil pit on the grounds where they brought in dirt that contains a large amount of fossils and shark teeth. The kids love digging and pretending to be archeologists.
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03/05/2010
Lordy, Grace has been so much trouble lately. She’s discovering her independence and the use of the word no.
Lately, she and I been having major power struggles. Tonight’s struggle was over eating dinner. She told me she was hungry but then refused to eat. Heaven help me when she’s a teenager if she’s acting this way at 4.
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03/04/2010
Nothing’s better than a cookie filled with icing and chocolate milk.
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03/03/2010
Just in the nick of time. But it still counts for today.
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03/02/2010
Ah, Grace is cleaning the walls. She wrote on the wall in her bedroom. I see no reason why she can’t clean them off. She made the mess, she can clean it up. Don’t ask what she is wearing and has in her hair. She did it to herself. 
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03/01/2010
Yay to my husband! He finally upgraded my pc and I got two monitors with it as well. Now I can keep an eye on Facebook while I’m editing photos.
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02/28/2010
One of the shots from today’s engagement session. This was my first time doing one.
Posted on February 28, 2010
Yay! I’m posting my images on time! I’m not going to be a week behind.
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02/27/2010
I knit up this baby cocoon today. This is my first time making one. It’s basically just a really long hat. I will have a couple of newborn sessions in a couple of weeks (yay!) and they are both girls. I’m trying to plan ahead and preparing myself for their arrivals.
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02/26/2010
Another toy from Christmas.
Cooper had so much fun playing with this on the table this morning while I sat, read a magazine and had a nice cup of coffee while it was still hot. Grace is visiting with her Grandparents this week so my house is experiencing a more mellow feeling.
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02/25/2010
This is the Bible study that I am participating in during Lent. This is a very informative book. My church is awesome in the fact that it provides child care for all events for free! Because of this, I am able to go to meet with my group and have adult conversations once a week.
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02/24/2010
Christmas came late this year from my inlaws. Between all the illness in both families as well as the weather we were just able to get together to exchange presents. I think this was Cooper’s favorite present that he received.
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02/23/2010
Last minute shot. Nothing at all great about it. I had been working on editing all day and didn’t really get a chance to do much of else. This is the top of my pc case. Notice all the crap that is piled up on her. This is to keep it away from little hands.
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02/22/2010
Happy Bench Monday! This is my first time doing this. I had a blast playing with my daughter, her rainboots and a white rocking chair.
This lovely lady called me up at the last minute to do a maternity session for her. She had hired another photographer who canceled at the last minute. Lucky for me. She and her husband were so much fun to work with and as bonus, I will photograph their new baby girl!
Posted on February 26, 2010
But I have a very good reason. I’ve actually been busy doing my paying jobs. I had 3 “bump” sessions from last week to edit. Still an excuse but a good excuse.
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02/20/2010
Grace just being Grace. She was playing with the packaging material from the new dishwasher.
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02/19/2010
My husband picked up my dishwasher yesterday evening. To occupy Grace this afternoon, I let her decorate and play in the giant box. I wanted to get a picture of her and her brother playing in the box but she thought posing might be a better idea.
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02/18/2010
More food pictures. My best friend came over to drop some hand-me-down clothes off at my house this afternoon. She didn’t come empty handed at all. She brought snickerdoodle cookie dough to bake. I put on a pot of coffee and we (the kids and us) had a delicious afternoon snack. Snickerdoodles are good just as they are but she made them even better by dipping them in chocolate. Yummy!!!!
My friend loves to cook and bake and is in the process of starting her own blog. She told me that if I took pictures of her treats she would leave the treats with me to eat as pay. That doesn’t sound like a bad idea at all to me
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02/17/2010
My baby. Well I guess I really shouldn’t cal him my baby. He will be two in about 2 1/2 weeks! I can’t believe it. Of my two children, he’s definitely my more “difficult” one. My daughter was much more laid back at this age whereas he is all boy. I’m actually surprised that he has yet to electrocute himself, need stitc
hes or chip a tooth. But for as frustrating as he can be, he’s a sweet, good boy. He’s my child that loves to snuggle and be tickled. He so easily smiles his beautiful smile that fills my heart with love.
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02/16/2010
Just a quick selfie snapped at the last hour. It was a long day. I had Bible study that morning and then a Junior Woman’s Club meeting that evening. The meeting ran well past 9 pm which is long for our organization.
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02/15/2010
We have the new dishwasher on order. Just waiting for it to arrive. Gah, I HATE washing dishes by hand. I haven’t been without a dishwasher since my college days. And even then, it was just my dishes to clean. There were no sippy cups with straws and meals for 4 people.
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02/14/2010
I had a maternity session on Valentine’s Day. Steve and Mary are so cute and expecting their first child. Steve, like most husbands, wasn’t really into the whole photo shoot thing but I did manage to get a natural, relaxed smile out of him in this one. Who wouldn’t want to smile at pretty Mary.
Posted on February 15, 2010
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02/13/2010
Some casual pictures taken at a family session.
This was the largest group session that I’ve done. It was a Christmas present for the mom. I’ve been in touch with them for almost 3 months organizing this session.
There were 3 siblings with their families. In total there were 7 adults and 2 children.
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02/12/2010
Happy Birthday to Me!
Today’s my birthday. Yay! I have the best husband and friends ever. I had one of my besties drop of a giant triple chocolate cupcake for me this morning. Then another bestie came and brought these cupcakes for lunch along with the world’s best pizza. My husband got me a new monitor along with calibration software. Plus I going out on a “double date” tomorrow for dinner with hubby and friends.
Plus my 10+ year old dishwasher broke today so I went shopping alone with my hubby for a new one. How sexy and romantic is that? But all in all it was a great day for me.
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02/11/2010
I bought these cool trays at Michael’s (a craft store) the other day and they’ve been a big hit with Grace. Since her brother broke her table last month, she’s had no place in the play area to color her pictures.
Tonight she drew a picture of a her at a lemonade stand with her mom, dad, and Cooper. It amazes me that just this week she started to draw stick figures complete with clothes, hair and facial features. Just last week she was still mostly just scribbling when she sat down free-drawing.
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02/10/2010
This is Camie. She’s a model from Model Mayhem. I met with my friend Autumn today and did some more traditional studio type portraits with her.
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02/09/2010
Grace’s BFF came over for some Valentine’s Day fun. They decorated cupcakes. Cooper tried to steal and eat the candy decorations. When they were done with the cupcakes they moved on to making Valentine’s Day necklaces and homemade cards.
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02/08/2010
Matchbox collision
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02/07/2010
Picture from my makeup Valentine’s Day mini session. Her shoes are adorable and the striped tights are too cute.
Posted on February 7, 2010
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Posted on February 7, 2010
Week 5 Recap:
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02/06/2010
My girlfriend Autumn143rose came over tonight and we played with CS4 together.
She has this awesome charm necklace with her daughter’s birth information. Very cool.
I had a great time tonight Autumn.
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02/05/2010
My very own Prince Charming. Well, Prince Phillip if you want to be exact.
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02/04/2010
What a fun way to spend an afternoon. Sitting in a laundry basket, eating a cookie, pretending to be a trash man. Yes, he’s obsessed with the garbage man.
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02/03/2010
And when I say she wore this all day, that included to my eye exam. Let’s just say she was the center of the conversation.
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02/02/2010
My son has no hips. Most of his pants fall down. Every time I see his pants like this the song “Pants on the Ground” runs through my mind.
I highly suggest you check out the video of the song if you haven’t seen it.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT1wdjlbyFc
Pants on the Ground by Larry Pratt
Pants on the ground
Pants on the ground
Lookin’ like a fool with your pants on the ground
With the gold in your mouth
Hat turned sideways
Pants hit the ground
Call yourself a cool cat
Lookin’ like a fool
Walkin’ downtown with your pants on the ground
Get it up, hey!
Get your pants off the ground
Lookin’ like a fool
Walkin’ talkin’ with your pants on the ground.
Get it up, hey!
Get your pants off the ground
Lookin’ like a fool with your pants on the ground
(Repeat second verse)
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02/01/2010
This lovely spigot cost us $400 yesterday. Overjoyed at this unexpected expense **dripping with sarcasm**. We’ve had snow and freezing temperatures for the past 4 days and it caused the old spigot to break. I actually heard the water start running yesterday but though my husband was in the shower. After listening to it for 45 minutes he came downstairs, still in his pajamas. Guess he wasn’t in the shower. We looked out the front window to see water just shooting out the front of the house. Two hours and $400 later this is our new pipe.
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01/31/2010
Since all the cool kids seem to be doing it…
I actually looked for more of the characters. I know we have Eleanor, Alvin and Simon as well as Theodore. Didn’t feel like putting in the effort to find them.
I’ve actually been tagged by two people to do an 8 Random Fact List. Thanks guys.
Here’s my list:
1. I HATE waterchestnuts. I know they have absolutely no taste but I cannot stand their texture in my mouth.
2. I love horror movies. I actually remember watch The Exorcist as a small child. I’m talking 4 or 5 years old. Yeah, not sure what my parents were thinking or not thinking. But to this day, I think it’s one of the best horror films ever made.
3. I met my husband in college. Actually my parent’s let me live in a co-ed dorm my freshman year. (Yeah, another case of what were they thinking.) Anyway, my now husband lived across the hall from me my freshman year. We didn’t start dating until the following year at least.
4. I love to cook leftover spaghetti noodles with scrambled eggs. I know it’s completely random but my dad always did this crazy breakfast dish for us and I loved it. I still make it for myself with the leftover noodles.
I have yet to convince anyone in my household that it’s good.
5. I met Oprah Winfrey. Actually was held by Oprah. I was 4 at the time. This was almost 30 years ago when she hosted a local morning talk show in Baltimore, Maryland called People Are Talking. I went to meet Captain Kangaroo. Who knew.
6. I hate housework. PERIOD.
7. My son is named after the Tom Selleck character on the TV show Las Vegas. The character’s name was AJ Cooper but everyone just called him Cooper. As a whim, the name went down on the potential list and my husband fell in love with it.
8. I worked in an Organ Transplant Lab for 8 years. Being a mom is much harder work.
Posted on January 31, 2010
Here are the pictures from this week’s 365. Enjoy your glimpse into my life.
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01/30/2010
Nothing more than a snapshot but this if very meaningful to me. This is my son’s first night sleeping with the crib converted to a toddler bed. I really have to face the fact that there are no more babies in my home.
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01/29/2010
Chassie Virginia’s Head Shot
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01/28/2010
Who says you can’t wear holiday themed socks on days not around the holiday?
My son was thrilled to see me wear these socks today. Kept pointing to them and telling me pumpkins.
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01/27/2010
My vintage Fiestaware. I inherited them from my Grandmother. They never get used for fear of one breaking. So they just sit up in the glass fronted cabinet and look very pretty.
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01/26/2010
I think this is one of the pods/flowers from our tulip poplar. I saw it on my front steps as I was leaving my house this morning. It made me smile tho think that as much complaining as I do about the trees in my yard, I always feel renewed when the first leaves start to bud and that shimmery hazy new green is all around.
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01/25/2010
Today was my BFF’s birthday. She and I and our 4 kids went out for lunch to celebrate. We all had a really nice time. Kids behaved and we each had a glass of wine. I chuckled on the way home though. We went to California Pizza Kitchen and not a single one of us ordered pizza.
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01/24/2010
I held some Valentine’s Day mini-sessions at the park. This was my favorite shot of the day. Not sure if the parents will love it but I sure do.
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01/23/2010
I have a love hate relationship with the oak trees that live on our property. I love the fact that they shade and cool our home during the hot summer. I love how they feed the squirrels and provide homes for animals in the area. But…. I absolutely hate their leaves that drop in the fall.
I hate that they shed their branches all the time and that the acorns have dropped and left small dents on the top of my husband and my vehicles. And I hate the fact that I am scared every time a hurricane comes through that one is going to land on our home. And don’t let me get started on the leaves that we have to rake every year.
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01/22/2010
OK, so my son needs to learn the finer points of identifying fruit. Or maybe I should introduce variety more often. He and I had an argument (as much as you can have an argument with a 22 month old) that this was a pear and not an apple. Regardless of what it is called, it was delicious and sweet. Ever last bite was enjoyed.
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01/21/2010
I think bath time is probably my favorite part of the day. No matter how crazy the kids have been, they just mellow out in a tub of water. Plus it means, they will asleep shortly thereafter.
Posted on January 21, 2010
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Grace had her 4 year checkup today. I was so not prepared for this. **Sniff, sniff** My baby’s not a baby anymore. I just need to accept it and move on. This appointment was like a physical even down to the paper exam gown. She passed all the tests with flying colors. She can hear, see, is not color blind, has good blood pressure and can jump on one foot. As the doctor and I joked, passing all of these tests clearly makes her a genius. Genius, not so sure but she definitely holds my heart in her hands.
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Crafty. It’s amazing what creativity comes out of a some paper, glue and stickers. Oh, and don’t forget the silver glitter.
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Wow! I can’t believe I’ve made it to 18 days.
365 is still quite a far way away.
Anyway, this is Logan. I went to a friend’s home today to play with lighting. Between the 3 of us, there were 6 kiddies to use as models at our disposal. It was nice, when one got tired of modeling we’d just get another one. Plus there was quite the range of ages. Logan was the youngest at 5 months and they increased all the way up to 4 years old. Fun day.
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Twisted vines on my front porch.
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Stone bench in my yard. It’s next to the azaleas that will be blooming in the next couple of months. Can’t wait! They are gorgeous every year.
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Just some pretty weeds. Not much else. Goodness I can’t wait for spring.
Posted on January 15, 2010
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This is my daughter’s tricycle that has been passed down to Cooper. It’s parked in front of our house most of the time. Every time we go out to t he van,
he has to make a stop at the tricycle to ring the bell.
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Should call this monkey see, monkey do. We went to a friend’s home today to check out their new Wii Fit Plus. The kids wanted to play as well. We found that a bathroom scale makes a good substitute for a Wii Balance Board.
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Peat-zah. As Cooper calls pizza. I had a meeting last night and dinner was take out. He enjoyed it.
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Both the kids have had colds for a couple of days. It’s really hitting Grace hard. Her cough sounds really nasty. I just pray that she will get some rest tonight.
Oh and this is her baby Sally. Poor Sally. She is so dirty and well loved.
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The many faces of a photographer’s kid. He quickly (within a minutes time) went from a willing participant to an all out fit.
Posted on January 10, 2010
I got a Lightning McQueen car for Cooper and a Hello Kitty one for Grace. It was a complete impulse buy. I had no one to blame but my self. No kids were with me. But you know what, they were so excited to have these when they got up from their nap. So worth it.
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This is Grace’s newest thing. She will come up to me or whoever is in the area and tell them a secret. She’s definitely got the whole secret thing down. She will whisper in a breathy tone with her little hand cupped around her mouth and their ear. Usually the secret makes no sense or isn’t really a secret. But she thinks it’s the greatest thing ever and 9 times out of ten, the secret will end in her giggling uncontrollably.
How wonderful to think some of the best things in life is whispering a nonsensical (is that even a word) is so much fun. Especially when the secret is shared with a friend.
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Last week my theme was Grace and Grace type things. This week, I will be focusing on Cooper
This is my little boy Cooper Thomas. He is 22 months old. I never realized how truely different boys were than girls until I had one of each. He is completely obsessed with vehicles-planes, trains, trucks, cars, buses-you name it, he loves it. My daughter never showed any interest in cars.
He’s my little impish devil. If he doesn’t want to do something he smirks and will run away. He absolutely refuses to kiss me. It’s become a running joke in our household. I can tell him to give anyone else a kiss, including Grace’s dolls, and he will gladly do it. Ask him to kiss me, he shakes his head no while grinning. Oh, well, I know he loves me and it doesn’t hurt my feelings. This is just another wonderful thing that makes him Cooper.
This was from this morning’s breakfast. He requested pancakes so I made him pancakes. He was very happy to sit at the table and eat them.
