blue eyes

last saturday bentley and i had a little play date in the park. she let me shoot away at her amazing blue eyes and smiled at all the right times. this girl was amazing to photograph. it went so smooth and she was just perfect. literally. also literally? her eyes are seriously that blue. i didn't do a thing to enhance. they are the real deal. aren't they stunning? she turned 6 months just a week before these were shot. and i can't wait to do more of her in the future. i told her mom and i could have photographed her all day. and i really could have. yep, it was that easy.












you are just a doll bentley - your parents better watch out for you... you're going to be a knock out! can't wait to meet in the park again someday :)

this little guy

this is wyatt. who came into our world just one short month ago to a good friend of mine and her husband. she asked me to come and take a few shots and i was thrilled. so as promised my dear marci, here is your sneak peek!

thanks again for asking me to be there marc, you're little guy is soooo cute! i can't wait to show you the rest...!!! :)

stellar afternoon

i went with my good friend sarah to the beach yesterday - it was fantastic. the water was warm enough for the kids (and for me), but it was hot enough outside that it was still refreshing, it wasn't over-crowded with a million people, and the girls had a blast playing together. a stellar way to spend the afternoon. some favorites from the day...

a new place for us, and i will definitely be back.



in other news, beth continues to get bigger and with that come new phases and stages. pros and cons of our current phase:

pro: she is much better at giving kisses than she ever has been
pro: she loves the water - especially natural water and will swim and play in it all day long
con: she is becoming a very picky eater
con: she still screams whenever you tell her no
pro:her vocabulary has expanded. i'm proud to announce that "no" is no longer the only word she knows. we now recognize thank you, milk, puppy, uh-oh (of course), yucky, and most recently, daddy. that one is the best one. she yells it when he gets home and smiles really big and it is so heart-warming
pro: she is very independent
con: she is very independent
pro: she loves slides and playing on the big kid playgrounds, especially now that she can climb just about anything
pro: she has become a really good cuddler
con: she has major separation anxiety - from whoever she's been with for the last hour. she cries and clings to me when i drop her off at daycare, and then kicks and screams when i pick her up. not sure how i feel about it... neither one is easy.

but i love the girl. she becomes a bigger handful everyday, but as a wise woman once said "well, that's growth. they're learning independence."

i guess we are all learning as we go...

a little bit of a lot

if you want great pictures of a messy toddler, give them nutella.






classic. i love it.

my posts seem to be few and far between these days. the last few weeks have been long days at work, and long nights of work at home intermingled with a few fun things here and there. like the 4th of july. we had a really good 4th of july. we had some friends from hanks hotel over for a barbeque - complete with store bought potato salad, a flag-cake, and semi-cool/semi-lame fireworks that we set off our basketball court in the backyard. i even bought red, white and blue (deep purple) flowers for the flower bed in my front yard. it was very festive. then we all packed ourselves in and drove down to the lake for a really good fireworks show of which beth could've cared less after about 5 minutes. she liked all the glow necklaces and bracelets better.

we've also been eating large lately. explanation: at the beginning of the year hank and a buddy started this bet - whoever lost the most weight by july 1st, had to buy the other (and significant other) dinner, up to $200. they started out at very similar weights, and are very similar builds, so it works. well, hank was killin it at first and the other guy got scared. real scared. so he paid a nutritionist to help him out and went on this crazy diet. meanwhile, hank was doing it all by himself, and with the support of his self-proclaimed nutritionist wife. still doing well, but now the other guy pulls ahead. 2 weeks to go. hank is welcomed to the under-200 club. 1 week to go and down the wire. the other guy is ahead by 3 pounds (they would weigh and share everyday). hank gets extreme with diet. last day: hank eats nothing and sits in a sauna for 3 hours to sweat it out. weigh in day: hank wins by 1.5 pounds!!!!! and other guy is shocked. hank and i are stoked. and have since been eating not-so-great. the other night we went to old chicago where hank got nachos and i had a calzone and afterwards on the way home we got dairy queen. terrible, but DELICIOUS! hank is still under 200, has lost over 40 pounds and looks AMAZING. i am really proud of him. and he feels good. and it's awesome. i will post a picture soon. but he got really tired of eating so well for so long that he is splurging a little bit now. and i admit that i'm right there with him. but just for a little bit...

the sunsets have been so amazing lately. the clouds have been just right to make for a myriad of gorgeous colors across the sky that seem to last longer than usual. i am particularly appreciative of tonights - i've been watching it out the back window as i write... it was a long, long day.

it was nice to come home to beth who smiled and laughed with me in the evening, and the man who patiently listened and then said all the right things. including "what do you need right now?" (and.... melt.) best possible question ever. best husband ever. things with work should slow down a bit tomorrow. i am looking forward to the break for a while...

3x12

i'm a couple days late getting to this one...




a typical evening for us. hanging out on the deck in our backyard, just finished dinner, and now just enjoying the warmth and playing with beth until it's time to go to bed. we have absolutely loved our deck since hank built it last year. we literally spend nearly every night out there. we often start our day out there, we eat every meal out there (that we're home for, anyway) play out there, talk and laugh out there, watch the people walk by, take naps... it's fantastic. i'm so glad we have a comfortable place to retreat to during these warm summer days. it makes for some good times... some very good times.