Birthday Pictures...Round 1!

Our little Caleb turns 3 this weekend! So, we all went to the beach earlier this week to take his birthday pictures. He loves going to the beach. We all do!

It was the hardest thing for him to leave the sand alone.

I tried to get real smiles out of him, but that was difficult, too:

Daddy made him laugh.

Here's a camera smile:

He just wanted to get on with playing in the sand.

Chris had the idea to have him stand on the chair.

This made for some cute photos.

And, of course, he had to jump off.

Daddy was being silly again, making Caleb laugh.

Then I just had to relax a little and let him play.

I love how these next 2 turned out.

Then I let him go walking while holding on to the balloons.

I love the photos I got...until he loosened his grip on his balloons and they flew away. I told him they flew up to God and that I would buy him some new ones.

He was pretty sad, but he felt better when I changed him into his bathing suit and let him play.

Can you feel the love in this picture?

And here's Laura Anne, having a moment. :)

I'm not done with birthday pictures though! I really want to take him to the railroad tracks. Hopefully we will get the chance to do that soon.

Cute Little Horsey....And Baby Too!

Chris and I bought my horse-loving sister this little statue years ago. When we were visiting a few weeks ago, I thought it would be cute to sit Stellan next to it for some pictures. I was right. Pretty darn cute if you ask me!

Wedding!

Sorry I've been MIA for the past couple weeks. We've been busy! My little brother got married this past weekend and we spent the few days before that in Jacksonville visiting with family.

Here are a few of my favorite photos from the wedding week:

Grampy with 3 of his great-grandchildren:

All 4 of my handsome brothers:

Fun with the mustache sticks!

I'm disappointed because I wanted to make a slideshow with music but One True Media changed their free options and the slideshow would have had to be 30 seconds or less. Boo! So anyway, I had to settle for a non-musical slideshow with Photobucket. Enjoy!

**It seems the slideshow is acting up a little. If it's not showing up for you, click "view all images" and it should take you to it.**

7 Months and My First Handmade Prop

Yes, my baby is 7 months old and yes, I made my first photography prop! I found a pattern on Etsy to make one of these fringe throws and I just had to have it! I LOVE it and can't wait to make another....possibly a girl-themed one?!

I'm in love with this one:

A drawer from his dresser worked perfectly as a little seat. :)

What a sweet little model I have!

Hand-Me-Down

This cute Grammy outfit was Caleb's back in the day.

Now it's Stellan's.
Not for long, though, because I couldn't button every button in the back!

Here are a couple shots of Caleb wearing it. (I would say that my photography skills have definitely improved since then. Yikes!)

That Boy

All I can say is thank goodness for washable markers!!

Dreaming Out Loud

In case some of you don't know, I have a passion for photography. I realized it, or maybe I should say that I realized how strong of a passion it was, right after we moved from North Carolina, two February's ago. I didn't know what I wanted to do with that passion except simply learn how to take better pictures.

Over the past couple years I believe I have improved. I know I've learned alot, but I also know that I have a ton more to learn. This past December, I learned of a photography scholarship called Soar! After considering applying, talking with Chris, and praying about it, I decided to apply. The purpose of the scholarship is to provide everything necessary to start a successful photography business: the gear, business coaching, photography assignments, blogging, etc.

I did not win the scholarship, and when I learned that, at first I was very discouraged. Very discouraged. I had thought that this was my one chance if anything was ever going to happen with my love for photography. How was I going to get better if I didn't have the proper equipment?

Well, I am so very extremely thankful to God for providing a way for us to finally purchase a DSLR camera for me! I just received it in the mail last week and I'm so excited about learning how to use it! I never thought that one week after finding out that I didn't win the scholarship, Chris and I would realize that we would have the ability to buy a good camera for me. God is so good!

I still have access to many, many benefits of the Soar! program. I am following along the journey of the 3 winners this year and participating in the photography assignments from home. I hope to learn how to use manual settings on my camera to step out of "auto mode" and achieve "the perfect shot". I hope to grow as a business person, learning all the how-to's of starting a business and being successful. I hope that my passion overflows into my work, capturing moments in time that will be meaningful to families for years to come.

I don't know exactly the plan that God has for me in this. I know it's a risk, saying my dream out loud for all the universe to hear, but I do know that God gave me a passion and a desire, and so I'm going for it. Yes, I'm scared. And nervous. But I'm excited. I'm going to do this. I'm going to see where God takes me on this journey. Will you join me?