baby #2: maternity pictures

Posted on July 24, 2014 by tara

Is it weird to post maternity pictures after the baby’s already born? Hopefully not… because that’s exactly what I’m about to do! I just have to have them on the blog, at least for my own record-keeping. This post was drafted before she was born, but the pictures weren’t all edited yet.

Pregnancy already feels like a distant memory… and looking at these pictures now makes me think my belly looked huge! We took these at 37.5 weeks (June 14th), and just twelve days later, baby Kaelyn arrived!

My crazy girl.
Having some of these last moments as a family of three preserved is so meaningful to me. I’ll definitely cherish these photos forever!

kaelyn’s newborn photos

Posted on July 16, 2014 by tara

July 12, 2016: I’m posting these back on the date I took them, because as I’ve been going through my photos to back them up, I realized that I never uploaded them here. I don’t have a whole lot to write about this shoot, mostly because all I remember from two years ago is that Kaelyn was very upset and crying for most of it (although you would definitely never guess that from these photos), and I felt like I didn’t get any great shots at the time. Well, my past self was crazy, because my baby was gorgeous, the lighting was decent, and these capture her sweetness perfectly.

So, two years later, enjoy! 🙂

father’s day weekend

Posted on June 16, 2014 by tara

I’d say that Michael definitely enjoyed a “manly” weekend, filled with going to the shooting range, playing Xbox, and renting a Redbox movie of his choice. He definitely earned it though, because I dragged him and Kaya out of bed at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning to take some maternity/family photos. This is definitely one of my favorites!

On Sunday morning, I got up a little extra early to surprise Michael with some homemade donuts! I used this recipe, and they turned out amazing! It was my first time using the new donut pans I got for my birthday, but I definitely shouldn’t have waited this long because it was even easier than I expected it to be. Michael was pretty excited (as was Kaya), so it was definitely worth giving up a little sleep to make these.I also surprised him with a small printed photo collage for his cubicle at work. Most of the pictures he had hanging up were over a year old!

Even though it was Father’s Day, he still took care of Kaya so that I could take a nice, long nap. I’ve been sure to enjoy my Sunday naps, since I only have a couple left before our princess is supposed to come!

Happy Father’s Day!

blog every day in may | day 18: my dream job

Posted on May 18, 2014 by tara

If you’ve been reading my blog for even two seconds, you’ve probably figured out that I’m already doing my dream “job”- being a mom! I feel so blessed to be able to stay home with my babies, teach them, and care for them the way that only a mother can.

However, for the sake of this post, if I had to have a job outside of the home, I’d love to be…

A professional photographer.

I’ve always had an interest in photography (and I actually do have my town business license to cover any money I make over the year, even if it isn’t much). For now, though, I’ve decided to just keep it a hobby. I do shoots for friends and family when they ask, but otherwise, I haven’t currently been trying to build my business. My number one focus is on being the best mom I can be.

Maybe when my kids are older (and I have a little more time… right), I’ll grow my business and be paid to photograph the wonderful moments in other peoples’ lives.

But for now, I’m just enjoying capturing our own little moments.

five on friday: the cute and the crazy

Posted on February 7, 2014 by tara

ONE. We visited Daddy at work for lunch one day this week. I think it’s obvious that they both loved it 🙂We also played with ALL his highlighters.

TWO. This little boy… is seriously so CUTE! We had a mini-photoshoot just to get a picture for his birthday invitations. It was hard with two little tornadoes running around our makeshift set, but we got a couple of adorable shots like this so I’d call it success!

THREE. Where’s Kaya?

FOUR. This picture encompasses almost everything she loves: her toy car, wearing necklaces, and listening to music from the bluetooth speaker. I also love that her tongue is sticking out!

FIVE. I love this wild-smiling, crazy-haired girl (who climbs on everything).

Happy weekend!

Linking up with Natasha, April, Christina, and Darci today!

short and sweet

Posted on January 14, 2014 by tara

The weeks go by so quickly… and the weekends seem to pass by even faster! I only wish we had more time to rest and enjoy time with family and friends.

This weekend was filled with TONS of baking- these muffins (with some health-conscious modifications), this bread, and these cookies!

Jax got busted for eating crayons… again. He does have a pretty cute “I’m sorry” face, though 🙂

I was asked to take some newborn pictures of a friend’s sweet new baby boy. It’s so easy to forget how tiny and helpless they are before they turn into laughing-dancing-climbing-on-everything toddlers.On Sunday morning, I received a suprise text from my dad-in-law.

“What’s for dinner?”

They live five hours away, so it’s not like they randomly come over and eat our food. They were coming to visit! We ended up having delicious Chinese fake-out and playing games at Jeff and Lelia’s place. It was a short, but sweet visit. I love spending time with family.

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(and yeah, that’s Jax trying to wrestle Dad, because that’s pretty much what went on the whole time they were here)!

project 365: 14/365

Posted on December 7, 2013 by tara

November 8: I’m thankful for my talents that allow me to create things for other people… November 9: …for a Daddy to help with bath time… November 10: …for Daddy cuddles when she isn’t feeling well… November 10: … for all the silly things she does (like putting “makeup” on Michael here)! November 12: I’m thankful for date-nights in and Pillsbury cinnamon rolls… November 13: … for this goofy dog who will snuggle with anything. November 14: … for this mess, because it means we have someone to make it (and toys for her to play with).

project 365: 7/365

Posted on November 20, 2013 by tara

I know I’m a couple weeks behind on posting these… but I figured I’d do a week at a time, that way, it isn’t a photo overload (for either you or me).

For November, I’ve been finding something I’m grateful for every day and capturing that moment. So here we go!

November 1: I’m so thankful this little girl made me a mama… November 2: … for crazy and fun friends! November 3: … for a super snuggly puppy and lazy Sunday mornings. November 4: … for Baby Einstein shows when she’s tired/cranky. November 5: I’m grateful someone else is enjoying my boppy pillow… November 6: … for all the silly things she does (like stand on top of the clean laundry pile just to look in the mirror). November 7: … for a daddy who can make her laugh and help get her ready for bed.

currently…

Posted on November 19, 2013 by tara

Counting down the days to Christmas! (35 days, 13 hours and 15 minutes if you’re wondering)… I’m so excited to share Christmas with Kaya this year (she was such a tiny little munchkin last year, so I’m anxious to see her reaction to the Christmas tree, opening presents, and sweet treats 🙂 )!

Trying to catch up on editing photos. I still haven’t gone through all the ones from our family shoot. I’ve been super diligent about shooting every day for my 365 project, but I’m behind on editing those too.

Thinking about gingerbread cookies! This is a big tradition for my family, and in the years since we’ve been married, we’ve tried to keep it up. There is nothing like my mom’s recipe (and all the delicious candies we decorate them with!)

Planning out the rest of the cookies we want to make to keep up with our cookie-delivery tradition. There are always so many great recipe options (I even started a Pinterest board just for Christmas cookies), but I am especially loving anything that has to do with chocolate and peppermint right now.

Missing this little chunk-a-monk. It’s so weird not having pigs (and probably part of the reason I am so behind on editing photos… my computer is in the den, where Maggie and Juni used to always be. It just seems so quiet in here without them)! We used to pick on Juni for being “chunky”, and now it makes me pretty happy to look back at earlier photos of her in good health, because she was definitely a skinny pig in her last days. (And this is random, but did you know that Juni was actually featured on Cute Overload a few years ago?)Wishing you a happy Tuesday!

kevin and tori’s wedding

Posted on October 31, 2013 by tara

So… you might as well wish Kevin and Tori a happy 3-month anniversary, because yes, these pictures are from August 2nd. I gave them their wedding DVD at the end of August, but honestly kind of forgot about the more personal photos I took that day. Better late than never, as they say! 🙂 (If you want to see the rest of the wedding go here!)

It was a perfect day for a wedding. The light was a photographer’s dream. Of course we all got a little crazy… Okay. A LOT crazy.Michael took the photos of the girls, so he took the opportunity to leave this on my camera, too.
Brothers 🙂 These next two crack me up: There’s nothing like a little girl and her grandpa. And yes, he let her stick her feet in the stream!