Nearly Newlys

It's that time of year when folks are ending a courtship to take it to the next level and tying the knot! These nearly newlyweds were a fun couple to get to know. They are getting married in June and trusting none other than myself to capture the day - my first wedding and I'm really looking forward to it! Nervous? Yes, but I'm excited nonetheless! These are some of their engagement pictures we took this weekend during our 'tour de Rockwall'. We went to the park, the rustic barn, a quaint little prayer garden, and finished up on the square near all the colorful brick buildings!

The groom-to-be finally threw in the towel, grabbed the bride-to-be and tried to get away from me, but not before I got one more!!

Baby Cousins

A few weekends ago now, Madden came over and stayed with us for about an hour or so. He's at that great stage of sitting and playing with toys. He played really well especially when Presley and Teagan were down there with him. I've noticed that with Teagan too. Her play time extends by 100% when Presley is playing with her or even near her. This was a sweet picture of all three of them playing, and all actually looking at the camera and nobody crying!

And speaking of cousins, this is Cash, Presley's other baby boy cousin at Easter. He's about 16 months old. They matched so cute here, we had to take a picture and of course it's better than any of the ones I've tried to take of Presley and Teagan matching!

Where's Waldo? Remember that? Well this is 'Where's Madden?' I'm a little embarrassed to post this picture...but another day that Madden was over when my mama was watching him and Chloe during Spring Break, he was asleep in Presley and Teagan's crib, but then woke up and I'm not sure who (Mama or Chloe) put him on the big bed that's also in their room, but he loved it! Can you see him?

I would like to say that with two girls with tons of clothes its SO hard to keep everything put up and away and organized. Teagan should now be in her 3-6 month clothes, but we still cram her into the 0-3 months because I haven't exchanged it all out. And if you get behind a little, all of a sudden there's utter chaos. And then I'm too overwhelmed and don't know where to start as far as organizing it all. And don't even get me started on the toy situation! All I can say is how blessed we are for having so much!

Potty training time! We haven't officially started, but in the mornings a couple times now, when Presley's diaper is still semi-dry, I'll set her on the potty to tinkle. This was her washing her hands after she tinkled that first morning. You can see how proud of herself she is. Of course we all made a big ta-da of it!

You're probably wondering why my child is always without clothes in most of the pictures I post and we still manage to not have the clothes situation under control. I'm kind of wondering that myself at this point.

Meanwhile, Teagan is a real motor scooter, she is really getting around. I'll lay her in the bed going one way, and she'll scoot and move and roll until she finds her comfy place. This particular day she turned 180 degrees! We have no carpet for her, so I'm about to bust out the ol' number squares that take up a good third of the living room!

Our Easter Celebrations

We celebrated Easter this year on Saturday (my fam) and Sunday (Hubby's fam). On Saturday we went to the park and had a picnic and hunted eggs in a wide open, flat plot of grass, very easy for Presley. On Sunday we went to church, came home made a cake in the shape of a cross (Hubby's idea), and headed over to his sister, Shelly's house.
Here's some pictures from both!



Here's Teagan with a front row seat to the Easter egg hunt at the park. Chloe (softly) broke a confetti egg on top of her head!






Presley with OE and her sand pail, her make shift Easter basket. We couldn't find last years basket and Honey had already got her one that she was going to get on Sunday.









Presley with her Easter basket on Sunday, still trying to warm up when we got there. There was so many people, she went in to shy mode, which doesn't last very long.






Teagan with her Easter basket and stuffed Duck.
Family shot. Presley enjoyed about 4 suckers during the hunt and immediately afterwards. She didn't care anything about the eggs, she wanted all the suckers "opey", or open! She eventually figured out how to "opey" herself, that's why she had four suckers... But in this picture, this was the mother of all suckers - a Blow Pop!


Of course I tried to get a shot of them with their matching Easter dresses, but wasn't exactly what I wanted...

Thank you, Jesus for dying for us!

Baby Brian

This precious angel, who is just too handsome for words, is Baby Brian. He has the most lucious brown curls I've ever seen on a baby! He was a delight to photograph at 10 months old, already standing and walking and his most preferred stance - the squat (for today, at least)! Baby Brian has two older brothers who are equally as handsome and his mama, a fellow home birther (gotta give my props) and daddy, are close family friends of Hubby's family. Just like all the other shoots, this was pure pleasure! These pictures are just the tip of the iceberg. As I work through the rest, I might have to add some more!

Co-co-sleeping

Well I've managed to spoil yet another child. Remember when Teagan used to go to sleep with very little effort? Well somehow she is full blown spoiled and these are her requirements for sleep:
1. our bed (and by 'our', I mean Taylor, Price, Presley, and Teagan's)
2. to lay directly on the sheets, not on the bedspread (I no longer make my bed just to unmake it 3-4 times a day)
3. fan, on
4. while nursing
5. if she wakes up, more nursing

If these demands are not met, then she will continue to cry it out until...they are. How I managed to screw that deal up, I have no idea.

It's so funny how my view on co-co-sleeping moves along the pendulum between love it and hate it. I get in the bed at night loving it - I get to snuggle and hug and kiss the girls to sleep (and 1-5 above for Teagan). But then as the minutes tick away and I find my body contorted this way and that, and then wake up a million times for Teagan to 'nibble' throughout the night, I slowly start my decent toward the hating it side of co-co-sleeping. Obviously not enough to do anything about it. So I'll end with the fact that both girls are sleeping now at the same time in "our" bed and I've gotten a number of things done! That always makes for a great evening!!

Easter Babies

This past Thursday, we loaded up the girls and headed to Honey's house for a photo shoot. We packed up about ten dresses, 20 bows, two pair of booties for Teagan, two pair of shoes for Presley, two different tea sets, a white blanket, one hat, two Easter bunnies, an Easter pail, the camera, the two girls, and Hubby. Thought we covered everything? Somehow we did manage to forget some white bloomers.


It was a beautiful day outside and we all got to relish in it. Honey's backyard is perfect for playing and taking pictures. Of course, I outlasted both girls and kept taking pictures until it was painfully clear they were no longer in the mood. So we took off all their nice clothes and had some homemade goo lash, which is like all grandmother's meals - heavenly to the taste buds!


Teagan at 4 1/2 months. She is grasping for everything in front of her!


Presley at 21 months. Presley said her first full sentence today. "I'm a monkey." It was so funny!

More Tiara Fun

Saturday we went to Shreveport to watch a MMA fight that a friend was fighting in and won! Anyway, before we left Presley was playing with her cousin, Madden with the tiara. Presley put the tiara on Madden and he loved it and left it on for a good while. This will be even more funny when they are older!! Don't get me wrong, Madden is all boy, just ask his dad who's sure to tell you.

Speaking of cousins, a preliminary sono said my sister Alison (pregnant with twins) is having two girls, and they'll be in the same grade as Teagan!!! So even more fun girly stuff to come!!

Dress up

Last night Presley sniffed out a leftover Christmas present that we saved. We enjoyed it for a couple hours before bed. I'm eager to see if she'll want to dress up again today. There were gloves too, but she didn't want to over accessorize.

Loved those earrings, sister!

Another attempt for a picture of them dressed alike, or almost dressed alike.

And Teagan still loving her tummy time and enjoying her view! Teagan loves her some Teagan in this pic!

A VERY busy one year old.

And I mean BUSY!! This child never stopped the whole time she was here. And rumor is - Miss Keeley has trouble sleeping!?? I was worn out just following this little one around with a camera! We made this shoot a family affair actually, my whole family (dogs, hubby, Presley) got involved in trying to momentarily halt Keeley's continuous exploration. I held Foxy Lady (our Pomeranian) up near the camera lens, Presley gave her some crackers, and hubby talked like Mikey Mouse while jumping up and down (this may of confused her actually...). Between finding sticks, falling and getting back up, watching and saying "dog", and going back and forth between Mama and Daddy, we managed to capture Miss Keeley in still frame, which is ironic in itself since 'still' and 'Keeley' are clearly not on the same spectrum. Sometimes she was smiling, sometimes she was in deep thought, but for the most part she was in pure toddler bliss! Despite everything, we got some great shots! There's a ton more, these were just my preliminary favorites!