Along came a wasp...

and the photoshoot was done! I finally had the perfect opportunity to take Leighton's 3 year portraits yesterday. It was pretty warm, still windy but not the tornado-like winds from the day before, and my aunt was here and took the girls for a walk so it was just me and Leighton. He did not share my vision, and kept asking me for the gum I was bribing him with for when the session was over. Then I noticed a wasp nearby. Keeping a very close eye on it, I continued to try to get one picture worthy of representing the third year of his life. Soon enough the wasp landed on Leighton and I had to try to get it off without upsetting it or Leighton. Once it flew away we hurried out of there. I didn't get the peerfect three year old portrait I had hoped for, but here's what I did get. Look by the red arrow in two of them and you can see the wasp!

Sweet as can be!

My poor babies have been very ill this past week. Fevers, coughing, vomiting, sleeping, snuggling, medicine, more snuggling, watching cartoons over and over again, rocking, warm baths, cold rags for foreheads, plenty of diaper changes and even more disinfecting has consumed my past week! It is heartbreaking having sick kids. The feeling that nothing you can do for them makes them feel better. Watching your normally lively kids wanting to do nothing but lay down and cuddle. They are all starting to feel better, and the house has been noisy today! It's strange, but I feel out of place when the house is quiet. Anyways, I snapped a few pictures of Ryleigh today and thought I would share them.

Here she is acting like she's not going to smile:


She's starting to crack:


She can't resist smiling at my tongue "clicking":


Here's my favorite of today:


And here's a little collage of the faces she gave me today:


Thanks for stopping by!

Our Little Peanut

Leighton is one of those boys that just loves his momma. There is really no other way to put it! He has been attached to me since day 1, and everyone was pretty worried what would happen when Ryleigh arrived. Before she was born he was perfectly content to just sit on my lap all day long. He wouldn't let me out of his sight in public, and is definately one of the most shy three year olds I have ever met! We all thought for sure he would be riddled with jealousy once Ryleigh was born. He has proved us all wrong! He is an amazing big brother. He loves Ryleigh to pieces and dotes on her all day long. He has been incredible with "sharing" me and has grown up so much in the past six weeks. He has also given Ryleigh her official nickname, "Little Peanut." He calls her his little peanut and it just stuck! When I found a shirt at Gap that said Little Peanut we just had to have it. Leightons asks if Ryleigh is going to where it everyday, and today I tried to get a picture of her in it. Needless to say, she kept putting her hands in front of it, but here is what I did get!





Doesn't she look like a completely different baby when she smiles?! It is such a big cheesy grin! And here is one of the two of them together. Technically it's a horrible picture, but to me it's perfect!

She's getting so big!

Ryleigh had been very good at holding her head up since the day she was born. I couldn't believe it when she was in the special care nursery, on her stomach, and her head was straight up in the air looking around! I finally got a chance to document it today! She also makes the best faces, so I was happy to get a few of those priceless expressions too.

Darn Snow!!

I had every intention of doing Leighton's 3 year portraits today, but I woke up to several inches of snow! It is almost April and we have close to 8 inches of snow in our front yard!! I was very disappointed, but that's what happens when you live in Minnesota. I decided to make a few storyboards of Mady and try a few different techniques on them instead. Hopefully you aren't sick of these picture yet!

I love this girl...

Mady turns five in a few short weeks, and I am not taking it very well! I think having Ryleigh made me realize just how quickly the past five years have gone. It still seems like yesterday when Mady was the baby girl of the family. Just me and Mady took a trip up town today to take a few pictures of her. It was a little chilly and pretty windy so she wasn't very happy with me. Then she saw a spider and the photo shoot was quickly over! We decided to go home and go for a walk instead. Here are a few of my growing way too fast daughter.

It's been a long time

I haven't been able to keep up with this blog like I had hoped. Apparently I didn't realize just how busy a third child would keep me! I thought I would post and let everyone know that we are all doing great. Leighton turned three this week! I haven't done his official 3 year photos, but I will share one of him showing us he turned three the morning of his birthday. He had just woken up so ignore the messy hair! I am also going to post a couple of Ryleigh from today so you can see how much she has grown already! They were right after her bath and I had just gotten her dressed. She hates bath time and had finally stopped crying!! They are all more snapshots than portraits, but I am pushing myself to take more "everyday moments" pictures and not be so stressed about the "perfect" portrait. On a business note, I attended a conference this week and am full of fun new ideas! Stay tuned for some changes and fun new products!