sometimes you have to split frame them

So we're getting closer to caught up here!

164 of 365: We'll keep this one
My next door neighbers had a garage sale, and at the end of it, let me dig through what was left. It was really really nice of them! The girls were napping while I collected stuff, and when they got up, they decided to wear everything in the bag. Claire found Blue and it was love at first sight.


165 of 365: excitement
We took the girls to the zoo. Olivia's at a great age for the zoo... she knows her animals, makes all of the noises, and understands that what she's looking at is real and not tv. The Columbus Zoo has a baby elephant, and the girls were pretty psyched about it. Obviously Tim was too.


and some other fun shots of Olivia from the day...

High Five Tiger!!


Now with every day, I couldn't decide on one photo... so you get two morphed into one. It tells the stories better.

166 of 365: What? It's comfortable!
Found Claire sitting in her new bin of legos. I found her because I heard the racket she was making attempting to get out. She just couldn't get her footing to get out by herself.


167 of 365: I do it
My stepmom and I had a 'silent conversation' (all daughters have had this conversation with their moms... where no words actually transpire, but you know exactly what each other is thinking) about the fact that Olivia wasn't able to drink out of a cup. She really couldn't... was very confused by the whole process. And we hadn't bothered teaching her because, well frankly, it was just easier not to. Claires still in sippy cups, so whats the big deal?? Well it became a big deal when we went to Aunt Sues and forgot to bring sippy cups along. Aunt Jane got Olivia cups to practice with on her birthday, and now she's a cup drinking champ!


168 of 365: I can fly!
I took this right before going down to bed, because I was exhausted. Just being honest here! So I wasn't paying a huge attention to my settings, and took two very poorly exposed photos. So I did some weird effect to them. Whatever - Claire is still cute.

my favorite time of year

So those have been around know that I take photos of Olivia every year around her birthday in my wedding dress. I do a similar thing with Claire (in my fancy winter coat, since her birthday is in December, you can see that post here along with Olivia's past dress incarnations) and its probably my favorite tradition we have. I love getting out my dress... love setting everything up. Every year I do find myself hoping that next year will be easier. Olivia's not the most pleasant person to put into uncomfortable situations, and she definetly finds the itchy wedding dress uncomfortable. But this year, we did get some smiling images.

(my fav of the unhappy's)




it's like she's grabbing at suspenders!


And I took some of Claire as well, for her half year




Now I know what you're asking. You're asking, Heather how in the world did you get the girls to smile?? Well, we pulled out all the stops this year. Because she was just not having it at all! We let Vash (the cat) out, and Tim brought out MONSTER since the girls are still obsessed with it. Which brings us to the day...

163 of 365: Please be Entertained

what silly little girls I have

We always point out how little Claire is. Because she is... really little... but she wasn't always. Since the girls are almost 18 months apart exactly, we take them to Drs appointments at the same time. It's nice because when they both need to be seen, it gets that visit over a little quicker, and when the visit is only about one of them, having both there gets the girls to 'perform' better for the Dr (or at least make them somewhat more pleasant)

So our doctor gives us their own baby book, if you will. It has all of their immunizations, has a dosing chart for medicine, and at the very back, has all their stats from every time they've been to the doctor. I was randomly looking at that page after the girls' 18 month/3year checkup, and noticed something funny...

160 of 365: Four months old


At four months old, Claire was actually heavier then Olivia. She was actually around the same weight at Olivia right up until 6 months, which coincidentally is when she started walking. Of course now Claire is a like a little hummingbird... she just can gain weight if she tries. But I thought it was funny that even back then when she was only a few months old, we'd say she was so much lighter then Olivia, and she really wasn't!

The next day I got all up in Olivia's face for some photos. She started out smiling pretty for me, then got bored, and then right when I was about to stop, Tim came out with the monster puppet, and got both girls just cracking up.







161 of 365: Joy


I can't help but smile on that last picture :)

Next day was kinda boring. We had pizza apparently. I love pizza.

162 of 365: pizza pizza

and the aftermath of toys

We lucked out this year and didn't get too many little toys for Olivia. We actually got a lot of money, which I'm happy and thankful to report we are using to buy Olivia a big girl bed. YAY to no more mattresses on the floor!!

Her two biggest toys she got this year were a car ballpit, and a Yo Gabba Gabba tent. Both have been a big hit. With both girls.

159 of 365: I see you!

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!!

Finally!! Olivia's birthday party!! (For the record, I had planned to spend today just editting photos for me... no one else... just me....... and I fell asleep on the couch. >.< But I'm hoping that this weekend will be a lovely weekend with me bonding with my photos... so there might be a blog explosion) But back to Olivia's party!! So far every year, my sister-in-law and I combine Olivia and my nephew Niko's birthday parties. Their birthdays are only 2 days apart, so really it just makes sense to. We like to rent a local shelter, so that we can just bbq outside, and let the kids run. They love the running.

So I made their invite on the fly. Like literally unintentionally waited until the last minute, and then realized that I had 2 hours to make the thing and get it ordered, or we were going to have to just buy something. But I like what I came up with.

The day before the party, I made their cake. I'm not going to lie... I love making their cakes. Something about baking, I just really like it. Must have some of my grandma in me or something (though I don't remember her as the birthday cake baker type... more just a general wonderful baker)

157 of 365: Let there be Cake

The actual day of the party, like always I didn't really take all that many images. I don't really know how to describe why I don't like to photograph my own events. Maybe it's because I get sad that I'm not in any of the images. Maybe it's because I'd rather just enjoy the moment, then have to worry about capturing it. Maybe it's because I'd just like a day off from it. But in any case, I don't have a ton of images from the party.

Birthday Girl


Birthday Boy


A bunch of Claire (the balloons were a giant hit with all the kids)




158 of 365: Loving my Aunt


Better shots of the cake




Grandpa swinging with Jacob

Tim took my camera while I was with Olivia for blowing out the candle. He did a very good job! I think it was one of the first times Tim used the camera out of auto mode and actually got successful images. I even think he made me look good :)

Waiting while Aunt Wendy lights the candles


Blowing out the candles


Contimplating how many pieces she wanted (turns out, two pieces)


Diving in

And when the party was just about done, Wendy's nurse came with her four kids. All of her kids are adorable, but her youngest has these eyes that are just unbelievable. I just had to capture them. So watery and pretty.

Wow, what a picture overload! I guess it's just me trying to make up for lost time. Sorry about that!!

Kristina and Mark, sneak peek #1

I put #1 because I'm sure I'll have another. So I was invited along to Kristina and Marks wedding this Saturday. I was not their photographer, but Kristina's mom said she'd love for me to take some images while I was there (which of course I jumped on.) Because I wasn't really there as the photographer, I never got one on one time with the bride and groom, which was a bit of a bummer, but I did get to pull aside some people and play around. Donna, I hope you love what you see!

My fav image from in the church... I just love how the light hits Kristina's dress... so yummy




Hanna, my sister Haleys best friend, is the sister of the bride, and was one of the many bridesmaids. I stole her and shot a ton of images of her. I joked with her mom that you would have thought she was the one getting married.




with one of the ring bearers

and with her older brother




and just a few of their cake... it was gorgeous!




Even though I wasn't the main photographer, I had a lot of fun! Thank you Kristina and Mark for letting me come along!