Greetings!

The past couple of months have been busy for me and the photography biz. One shoot after another where the entire goal was simply to get one great picture to adorn a Christmas card. You know, you'd think I'd take a hint and start thinking about taking pictures of my kids and choosing cards for our family, but it didn't really cross my mind... until now!

So the priority this weekend was to get a picture of all three kids. We got the picture, (only took 300 attempts) and now I'm down to picking out the card.

I've been looking at Shutterfly's options for Christmas cards, and I just love them! There's a great variety of style's to choose; modern to traditional. My favorite feature is that on most of their folded cards you can print on the inside flap a little Christmas letter, or put down a collage of pictures! Here are some of my favorites...

I love the plaid!!

Fresh and classic!

I love everything; shape, colors, font... family :)

Now my absolute favorite card for the one (emphasis on the singular) good picture we got of our kids can't be revealed yet! You'll just have to wait and see what arrives in your mailbox.

I now have our card wrapped up, most of the Christmas gifts near completion (family members don't look...hehe), and am on to picking out Elena's birthday party invitations (can you believe she's going to be 5???).

So thank you, Shutterfly! And thanks for this great opportunity!

Asher - 11 Months

This past month has been full of new little tricks for Asher. The biggest change is how much we're now able to communicate with him.

He definitely understands the word "No!" And we're having to use it more often. Kitchen cabinets are an area where he keeps pushing his luck. The funny thing is that he acts totally guilty if you catch him opening one of the cabinets.

Whenever he tries to communicate "no", his head shakes side to side. I get a lot of "no's" at the dinner table now.

If he hears "hi" or "bye" from anyone at all, he waves.

He's fascinated with putting things in a box or crack and then trying to get them out only to repeat the process.

He will sometimes throw a mini-tantrum. They're mini because they're over before they begin, but it's officially a tantrum because he arches his back and screams!

He LOVES to see Ben come in the door. If I'm holding him he reaches out towards Dad, falls on him, and gives a big hug and grin. Then the two of them head out the door to get the mail. He's so excited along every step of the way to the mail box, that it sounds like he's having an asthma attack.

A week or so before he hit 11 months he took his first steps! He did it multiple times one evening, but hasn't been to urgent to repeat his success.

Sneezes are so funny that he tries his best to give his own rendition of an "ah-choo." I find it completely adorable.

It's pure joy to see him make new discoveries. And I love learning more and more about him each day.

Love you Ash-man!

A Perfect (Kinda?) Fairy Tale

A Princess, a Dragon, and a...

MAGIC MIRROR!

Conceptually, I thought it was pretty brilliant, but from a craftsmanship standpoint, I'll be the first to admit it's lacking.

Yet another picture of a distraught Asher. You'll just have to take my word for it... he's really a happy baby, we just have a way of doing all of these fun fall activities when he is not at his best.

So obviously, one of our clan was having a rough evening, but the rest of us had a great time! A couple of block parties, wonderful friends, and sweet treats!

Pumpkin Patch - Take 2

This months MOPS play-date was held at a nearby pumpkin patch. I was excited about it for two reasons - 1) I went to this patch last year and thought it had a great variety of fun activities for kids and 2) I wanted to try again to get pictures of Asher. My sister joined me, so we were able to get pictures of Aubrey and Asher together:

Telling him a secret

Giving a sweet/violent kiss

Which left Asher in this emotional state... sigh, no better than last time.

Elena was thrilled to get her face painted!

She chose the puppy-dog look

Elena and Evan got to pick out a little pumpkin and decorate it with stickers.

Not sure what happened to the other "girly eye" on Elena's. And by looking at Evan's pumpkin, I don't think he got the point of the exercise. All in all a fun day!