Well this has been a very good year for us! We made it a full year in one house/town and that has been super super nice! We have good neighbors, super good friends at church and from work (whom most are gonna be around next year which is a great blessing to have such good reliable people around cuz next year is gonna be crazy... :), I like this area, love the beach, and overall we're pretty happy here!
I think I'll start off with Evelyn though...Evelyn has definitely outgrown being a toddler and is growing up so fast! She's still her fiesty, independent, sweet little self she's always been with a growing little attitude to go with. Man that girl has some "looks" now! We've had some struggles trying to figure out how to deal with her big girl attitude and still working on it but hopefully I find something that works soon :) She is a sweet thing and is a good helper...sometimes too overly helpful- like with Andrew...she's constantly trying to pick him up and "help" him, which he's way too big for and half the time he ends up hurt. They are starting to play more now which is nice, but it doesn't always last too long :)
Let's see, I don't really know what to say! Well, she's still in preschool, 3 days a week, and loves it. She has a few really good friends she talks about and her teachers love her. She knows how to spell/write her full name now and is starting to get interested in reading. She has an amazing memory and can remember the smallest details. She plays really well by herself and has quite the imagination, very funny to listen to sometimes. She loves to sing and makes up songs while she plays. She loves to dance and is so fun to watch....she's so dramatic too with it! She loves to help me in the kitchen and loves to do little projects. She's very thoughtful and considerate of others and has such a good heart despite her attitude ;) She definitely knows what she wants though and is a very determined, decisive little thing! She's hilarious though and says the funniest things, as I've shared before :) And sometimes she says things that are just so weird coming from a 4 year old! Like, just little phrases here and there that seem too old for her. But she's always seemed older so it's just normal for her I guess! I do love this girl though! She adds such a fun, crazy, interesting dynamic to our little family and I wouldn't change her for anything! :)
Andrew is such a total different temperament than Evelyn, (thank goodness! ;) which I knew from the beginning but I love seeing his personality as he gets older. He's so much fun and so funny and sooo freaking adorable! I need more video of him to show you all how cute he is. Pictures do fairly good at showing but video is better :) He's such a boy though...he loves to wrestle around with his daddy and goes around growling all the time now and is always running and is just such a boy! He's got the sweetest smile though and has this mischievous little tilt of the head smile that he does that's adorable but also means trouble ;)
Andrew's definitely a little toddler now though and doing everything that entails. Which is a very fun stage, he's learning so much and so curious and so much fun but it also comes with some nice fits and tantrums that he's fairly regular on throwing. Most of them revolve around food though so they can be distracted fairly easy. He does throw himself full on out on the floor though and gets so upset! Quite ridiculous. He loves to dance now though, which is cute, and LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse especially, but mostly just the beginning and closing songs. He's so adorable with his little dance though! And he gets so excited about it too! He does a lot of excited screams about things, like when we turn on Mickey or when Daddy comes home.
Andrew loves to figure out how to put things together right now, like he loves his blocks and the sorting shape blocks, and some of the little kid puzzles I have for him. He loves his cars and loves playing ball. He still loves food but he's getting a little pickier about what he wants and when. He still needs to eat pretty much right away when he wakes up (while Evelyn always waits to eat breakfast...kinda funny). He knows yes and no though and definitely lets me know what he wants. He's a VERY helpful little guy and loves to help pick up and HAS to be the one to throw his diaper away after I change it\and he likes to put away dishes too. He has his own dose of determination though and is hard to distract once he gets his mind on something. He also would love to help out in the kitchen although he's still too young to help cook. He loves to watch though! He's still a pretty good sleeper although I think he might be transitioning out of 2 naps a day, which sucks! Trying to hold on to that one :)
Andrew is fairly vocal but doesn't have too big of a range of words yet...especially compared to Evelyn at this age! I just looked up her 16 mth old post and she was talking so much by now, but I guess Andrew just has her to talk for him and doesn't need to talk as early as she did ;) Oh well, not too worried about it...he'll start talking soon enough and then the talking back will start and I'm good with Evelyn that ;) He's still very sweet and cuddly though and I LOVE when I'm putting him down to bed and he wraps his arms around my neck and lays on my shoulder. He's so freaking sweet! He loves to be outside with the big kids and wants so bad to ride their big toys with them. He's also growing up too fast for me! But just like Evelyn, I'm so glad to have him in our little family and wouldn't trade him for anything!
Baby #3 is doing very well...nothing too much to report with her :) She's definitely more active now that I'm almost 31 weeks, which is to be expected, but still not as active as the other two! Still hoping that's a good sign of a calm/easy going baby. I can't believe how quick it's going though...On Friday I'll be 31 weeks and only single digits left! Eeek! I'm so excited to meet her though!
As for my year, well it's been a busy one! Keeping up with those two above is definitely enough to keep one busy, plus add a hubby, household stuff, church calling, my own projects, and my photography....I was a busy girl! I'm very glad to have a busy year though and very grateful for all that I was able to accomplish with the help of friends and especially Mark and especially my friend/mentor Kelly, whom without I wouldn't have had nearly as many photo shoots or experiences! I feel like I did some good growth in my photography this year and was given a lot of different situations and sessions that challenged me and made me try new things. Which is great! I had a lot of wonderful Homecomings that I did this year, which are such a joy to capture and such a different session to capture. Doing sessions can get somewhat repetitive in a way so capturing homecomings that aren't planned/you just follow and capture that moment is quite awesome and amazing! I do love doing family sessions though and am grateful for the families that I captured this year, which included some returning clients which is always such a rewarding feeling/session to have! I've done a nice range of sessions too- family sessions, maternity, couples, an engagement, bridals, children, cake smashes, infants, mom/daughter, homecomings, an LDS Wedding....super fun! Love my job so much!
Anyway...the biggest thing though probably was shooting my first full on wedding, which I've mentioned before was very daunting and scary for me but I'm so glad I did it and have that experience now. I was also able to shoot a second wedding for my photographer friend Melissa with a bit more confidence and had fun working with a good friend/fellow photographer! She and Kelly have been such awesome support/friends/help to me and my growing business. Super grateful for them and am excited to learn more from them this upcoming year! I don't expect to be able to do as many sessions next year with Mark being gone but my goal is to work on the business aspect of it all/work on my website/branding/image/work on figuring all that stuff out that can be done from home. It'll be progress for me in a different direction which is good and needed! I'm hoping once baby #3 is a little older that I can do some more sessions with the two wonderful ladies above but we'll see :)
I'm not quite sure what Mark would say about his year...he pretty much went to work, spent time with us, spent some time with friends, had his church calling, and very lovingly/amazingly/wonderfully helped me accomplish all that I was able to this year! He might be a quiet presence but he's always there for me and is a wonderful husband and amazing father. I don't know what I'm gonna do next year with him gone! It's definitely going to be a challenge for me.
Here's some big moments of 2013:
Mark and I celebrated 5 year anniversary in May (we had a lovely date in Wilmington which included a super delicious dinner at a fondue restaurant and saw a movie! Typical date really but our fav :)
I turned 26 in February,
Andrew turned 1 in August,
Mark turned 30 in September,
and Evelyn turned 4 in October!
In March Mark and I went to our first Military Ball together! Super fun to get all dressed up and spend the evening with good friends!
I upgraded my camera in April, which is super exciting for me :) I love cameras and camera gear! :)
In July we found out we were expecting baby #3! SUPER big surprise but we're so excited!
Andrew went from a cute little baby with limited mobility to rolling to crawling to walking and now running! Big year for him :)
Andrew had his first hair cut at 5 months...and then his second...and third...and fourth....probably up to 6 now! This boy has some hair! :)
Travels:
March- Andrew, Evelyn, and I went to Missouri to visit the family back home! It was wonderful to see everyone and for them to meet Andrew!
June- Evelyn, Andrew, and I drove to Alabama to visit the Erwin's and be at Isabella's baptism!
July- probably the biggest trip we did...Orlando! Evelyn was the flower girl at our good friends wedding and we had a fabulous family vacation at Disney and SeaWorld! Amazing!
November- we took a small family vacation to Myrtle Beach and had a fun long weekend away from home!
November- for Thanksgiving we went to Alabama and spent a wonderful holiday with the Erwin's!
This is more for me cuz I was curious but here's more or less all the sessions I've done this year!
12 family sessions, 2 maternity, 2 mom/daughter(s), 1 couple session, 1 engagement session, 1 bridal session, 2 cake smash sessions, 3 infant sessions, 1-9 month old session, 1 toddler session, 3 weddings, around 15 homecomings, plus numerous shoots I did with my kiddos :) So many milestones to catch that first year and they're always available when I don't have anyone else to take pics of :)
And I think that's pretty much all I can think of for this year! It's been a wonderful year with lots of wonderful things to look back on. This next year is going to be a challenge for us but I know it's going to have a lot of wonderful moments too so here's to looking forward to those! Hope you all are remembering your special moments from the year and have a Happy New Year!
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| Of course I couldn't post without a single picture! I don't really have anything new so here's a quick comparison pic of my two kiddos from last year til now! They're growing so fast! |
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