Anthony's First Christmas!

In the interest of gaining experience with photography, I have been kindly offering my services to friends and family!  I was honored to be able to take some Christmas card photos for my cousin's little man last week.  

Anthony was happy from the moment I got there until, hopefully for Mommy's sake, well after I left and he was not stingy with the smiles.  I had a blast spending time with this little angel and look forward to seeing him on Christmas eve!

Hello Handsome!

I was lucky enough last month to be able to get some nice candid shots of my girlfriends kids.  These two handsome boys humored me crawling around on the floor with them trying to make them smile.  Roman was more than happy to show me his sexy come hither look, and I am pretty sure the only reason Antonio did not give me the stink eye all day was because I brought him baby pumpkins.

I am excited to barge in capture some newborn shots of their soon to be here baby brother!

Thanks again Cruz family for welcoming me into your home to take photos!

The 25+ Books of Christmas

My love for Christmas comes as no surprise to those around me, especially the men in my life who were forced kicking and screaming delighted to share in my holiday cheer whilst putting up 2 days worth of decor around the perimeter of the house. 

Last year, W was pretty excited to see the lights and listen to the few musical ornaments, but this year he may be just as excited as I am, when the inflatables "wake up" every night and the tree glistens.  So Tyler and I decided it was about time to dive into holiday traditions old and new.

A new tradition that our family started this year, is a spin on counting down to Christmas.  I love the calendar countdown as much as the next guy, but we really loved this idea.  Starting on the 1st (we started early so Tyler could be here to kick it off) Little Man picks one book from under the tree.  He gets to unwrap his story and then we all snuggle under a festive and warm holiday blanket and read as a family!

Although we have to hide the books each day until story time, W already really enjoys it.  After dinner, the books magically appear under the tree and he goes right for his "big blaaaank-it!" and snuggles in for a good read.  

So far, W has unveiled Chugginton's Frosty Night, Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer (musical book and toy), and I know my Grandma Loves Me (we let Grandma do the snuggling for that one).

Happy 2nd Birthday, Cutie!

One of my favorite babies just turned 2!

My stud muffin A was kind enough to invite us to celebrate his 2nd birthday with him at Chuck E. Cheese.  I must say it is a entirely different experience as an adult, but all of our children were very well behaved.  Between pizza, lemonade flavored water, and more tokens than toddlers can carry we had a pretty great afternoon. 

W had a few favorite rides, one of which was the Bob the Builder construction truck, and he did spend more than a few tokens on the fire truck with the birthday boy!  In case you could not tell from the picture, the boys did not want to be bothered with paparazzi since it was increasing the wait time before the ride would start again.  Pesky parents trying to document the fun!

We had a great afternoon shoveling red velvet cupcakes into our mouths and collecting tickets, and are ready to party with our friends again soon!  Happy birthday, A!

P.S. How cute is Baby Bear in his suspenders and bow tie onsie?!

Date Night

There is just something so romantic about the glistening white lights on the trees lining the streets of the city around the holidays.  Due to my overzealous holiday spirit, I love any and all things related to Christmas (or any other holiday year round for that matter), so I thought it would be neat to get all dressed up and head downtown to see the decorations and watch the city sparkle in all it's glory.

It was about -12 degrees outside, okay it was probably 30 degrees, but Tyler and I managed to avoid freezing to death long enough to stroll through the Christmas market in Daly plaza with hot chocolate and spiced cider in hand.  We then headed over to Macy's to look at the magnificent tree in the Walnut room. 

Tyler humored my incessant desire to photograph pretty much any visually pleasing backdrop I came across.  Hence the numerous oh so cute couple shots above.  We headed back to the burbs, where we rightfully belong, to met up with a few fav friends for cocktails, before making it home to have visions of sugarplum fairies and living downtown dreams dance in my head.

  All and all a pretty nice kick off to the holiday season.

1.) Christmas tree at Daly Plaza  2.) One person elevator at Macy's perfect for the do it yourself photo  3.) Christmas tree at the Walnut Room  4.) Attempting to get the tree in a photo with us  5.) Marble staircase between first and second floor at Macy's  6.) Waterfall at Macy's near guest services

No Turkey... No Problem

We had a very nontraditional turkey day this year.  After traveling back from Milwaukee, we were supposed to celebrate with my family per usual; however, we made a unanimous decision to cozy up in our own living room and spend some time just the 3 of us.  This does not happen very often, so when it does we cherish every moment.  Although we did not gorge ourselves with turkey, stuffing, potatoes and pie, we managed to survive on a simple homemade meal by Tyler and some cheesecake. 

We are utterly and extremely thankful every day that my parents have opened their home to us and have gone above and beyond being welcoming and accommodating!  We are truly blessed to be surrounded by love and have two sets of parents who offer encouragement and support.  We only hope someday we will be able to repay their generosity!

Happy Thanksgiving, friends and family!  Our lives are increasingly better because we share them with you!



A 1 little, 2 little, 10 little Indian party

One of the many things that I am grateful for in life is that I am able to stay home with W.  It is a remarkable blessing and not having to trudge to work every day also means that I am able to bring W, and in this case his cousin L as well, to a Parent and tot class.  Last week, the boys had a Thanksgiving feast during class.  We supplied the turkey sandwiches, but along with those, their table was filled with more than they could possibly ever consume in a 15 minute snack period including cookies, pudding, chips, jello and who could forget the juice. 

In addition to stuffing our their faces, we made hand turkey placemats,  Indian feather head pieces and read a lovely story about being thankful.  There is just something truly special about experiencing the holidays through the eyes of a child.  I am sure I will only get sappier as the Christmas season approaches, but for now enjoy a few photos featuring two boys that I am especially thankful to be able to spend a majority, and then some, of my time with.