Zoe Madeline Arrives!

My second niece, Zoe Madeline, arrived yesterday, April 1, at 5:26 AM weighing 6lbs 11oz. And she's beautiful. Just one day before my other niece turns 1. It's a weekend of celebrations and I'm so disappointed I couldn't be in two places at once this weekend.

I wanted to share a few pictures of Zoe.









It's been a busy week so I thought I'd add a few more from the week.

March's Moon and Mark's Birthday

Last night was my brother's 30th birthday and we celebrated at a restaurant on a roof-top terrace. I brought my camera hoping to get some excellent shots of the moon and water (since the moon was the closest to Earth it has been since March of 1993) but unfortunately it was cloudy here so I didn't get the shots I had envisioned. The clouds briefly parted on the way home, so we stopped briefly to get some pictures before it was covered again.

Early AM

Don't we all wish we looked this good in the morning?



I joined a photography pre-pro prep group and part of the forum is simply this: take more photos. I'd gotten into a lull lately (sorry mom), so I decided I need to get back to regular, more-frequent posting. To include more pictures.

Did you notice my new watermark? I hardly think I'm ready for it, but someday! I'm trying to decide on a graphic as well (maybe a bird?) but I need to improve my capabilities in photoshop. I'm hoping our schedules will allow me to take a class this spring or summer.

Newborn Photoshoot

I had my first photoshoot for a complete stranger!

This little peanut was sooo cute...but simply could not sleep by himself so I didn't get the shots that I wanted. Admittedly, I went into the session with a pretty ambitious list of poses. Dad was so sweet and couldn't stop kissing the baby so I was able to capture a lot of candid moments. Here were a few of my favorites from the session.

Winter Photo shoot

In about three weeks our Christmas baby will be turning four. I can't believe time has flown by so quickly (and I only have two weeks to finish shopping!). Since our goal this year is to get our Christmas cards out before February (hey, better late then never), we decided to do a photoshoot this weekend for Bella's 4th birthday (so you'll see more photos of her by herself) and Christmas. Maybe I'll even order cards tomorrow...well, maybe.

We couldn't get many good photos of them together, but bare with me because I didn't have a favorite (I'm pretty biased...they're all so cute). In looking through the photos, she just looks so old. Four years old looks so much like a kid and we're not ready for that.

In case you were wondering what's on Bella's Christmas list this year (now that she's much more vocal), for months she has been telling us that she is asking Santa for a kitty (even to the point where she says "this is the dress I'm going to wear on my birthday when I get my kitty"), but today told us "I'm not asking Santa for a kitty, I want a hippo." We negotiated it down to a "Hungry, Hungry Hippos" game which she actually seemed rather excited about.

Here's our Saturday in photos. (And yes, I'll be posting photos of Noah's baptism and Thanksgiving soon...there were SO many to go through thanks to our substitute photographer, Mark).

Bella's First Haircut

Today I took Bella some place extra-girly--a small children's hair salon in Carlsbad. Although it was 17 miles from here, it was well worth the drive especially for her first haircut. The shop was filled with feather boas, pink frilly dresses, and bows. Perfect for a little girl who aspires to be a Disney princess (we're hoping she grows out of that). (They have video games, space shuttles, and race cars for the boys as well so this may be a fun place for Noah when he gets a little older.)

After her hair appointment (that sounds so grown-up), we went shopping in the little boutique. Bella was allowed to pick one item off the sale rack piece of clothing--she picked the frilliest skirt she could find--a pink tulle tutu with bows and glitter.

We went to lunch at a cute sushi place (and yes, she loves chicken teriyaki) and then took pictures of her new haircut.

(As an aside, after seeing how the indoor photos came out, I think a new flash is slowly making its way to the top of our Christmas list.)