The Bugoci Boys- Lakewood Family Photographer

We barely fit this session in.  It was pouring rain with huge gusts of wind about 45 minutes before we took these pictures.  So we postponed the pictures a bit and waited for the sun to come out (cue the song from Annie).  Last time I met with these boys it was FREEZING and we barely got any pictures before they were too cold to continue.  So I was so happy when it all worked out this time.

These boys were a pure delight to work with!  That is amazing considering one is 18 months (the toughest age to photograph in my opinion) and the 3 year old didn't take a nap that day.  But none of those things mattered.

These boys wandered around, smiled, played and smelled the flowers.

All of the rain has made everything so green and beautiful!

Seriously, I don't know that I have ever gotten so many great, smiley pictures from kids this age.  They were so happy and loved smiling for the camera.

Those big brown eyes and eyelashes make me swoon.  

Such a sweet boy.  So helpful, good big brother and a great listener!  He just has a little sparkle in his eyes.

Darlene even got in on the action and was smelling the flowers.  Or more accurately having flowers shoved in her face.  

Must be a pattern.  Everyone got flowers shoved in their face.

This session made me so happy!

At the end of the session we found a little puddle and Darlene was game for letting them jump in the puddle.  They didn't really jump but ran through it instead.  They were pretty wet in the end, but the pictures are purely delightful! 

Doesn't it just make you want to go jump in a puddle?

Happy Spring Everyone!

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Simple Baby Shower

Baby showers.  Everyone has a love/hate relationship with baby showers.  The older you get, the more you tend to roll your eyes at them.  The games get a little ridiculous.  I mean, who wouldn't want to try baby food and sniff diapers full of melted candy bars.  Don't get me wrong....we did some of those things at my baby showers but I was 25 and it was fun.  When I offered to throw a shower for my best friend Stacy, she was excited but requested NO GAMES.  So we did some fun little activities instead.  

This shower came together beautifully and I was so happy to help in showering this amazing woman and her new baby girl with love, prayers and gifts.

We guessed the date the baby would arrive.  We wrote encouraging notes on diapers to give Stacy a laugh in the middle of the night and wrote words of advise and wisdom.

Stacy's sister Stephanie is going to make a quilt so we each designed squares for the quilt that will hang in the baby's room. 

Just to show how much the woman is loved and how excited everyone is for this baby....only ONE person wasn't able to come.  It ended up being a huge spring storm (we got over 12 inches of snow) and yet everyone braved the cold and snow and made it.

This is my favorite picture.  I looked over and saw her belly hanging over the edge of the counter and had to take a picture.  Isn't it adorable?

 

I kept the food pretty simple, especially as there are some food allergies in the group.  So we had fruit, veggies (sorry, no pretty pictures of that), chocolate drizzled pretzels and cake.

 I love simple decor as well, so I just had mason jars of baby's breath around the house and I made little garlands with circles.  I just sewed them together with my sewing machine. Easy peasy!

Also, I hate punch.  If I am going to waste calories on a sugary drink it better have bubbles and caffeine.  So I went with bubbly water, soda and coffee. 

This cake.  It is my new favorite.  It looks SO gourmet and pretty.  Yet it was the easiest cake I have ever made.  I made 2 boxes of chocolate fudge cake mix and put them into 3-9" cake pans.  After they were out and cooled, I wrapped them in saran wrap and stuck them in the freezer.  Looking back, I should have trimmed off the top to make them even before freezing them but it still worked out just fine.  I left them in the freezer until I was ready to decorate them on the day of the shower.

When I was ready to decorate (about 1 hour before the shower) I took the cakes out of the freezer and unwrapped them.  Freezing them keeps them nice and moist and they were DELICIOUS!!!  I took 2 cans of cream cheese frosting (I know, right!?!?) and put them into a ziploc bag and cut off one corner for a pastry bag.  I piped a bit in the middle of the cake stand to make it stick, then I added the first layer of cake.  Then I piped a little frosting in the middle and then a large line of frosting along the outside edge.  Then I plopped on another layer of the cake and repeated the process.  Then I put the top layer on and squeezed all of the frosting that was left on the top of the cake and spread it around with a knife.  I added fruit to the top and edges of the cake stand and sprinkled it with powdered sugar.  I used a paint brush to brush a little powdered sugar on the sides.  It was very helpful.  Viola!  A beautiful and easy cake that took me less than 20 minutes to "decorate".

Everyone enjoyed the food and friends.  Before opening gifts we all sat around Stacy and layed hands on her and prayed for her, the baby, their marriage and all the things they will be facing in the next few months and years.  It was amazing!

As Stacy opened her gifts, we each took turns sharing our "advise" from the paper they had filled out earlier.  They were funny, unusual, heartfelt and there was some GREAT advise on them.   

Thanks everyone for coming out to help us celebrate Stacy, Jeff and Baby Girl Stutzman!  We all can't wait to meet her and snuggle her.

Molly- Denver Child Photographer

Oh the life of a 2 year old.  

It is filled with wonder, joy, learning, exploration....and tantrums.

Isn't little Molly the cutest thing?? 

This is her model shot.

Her favorite thing right now is money.  Like little coins that she can carry around.  Notice the money in her hand.  I love that her mom wanted to capture this because she wanted to remember the things her daughter liked at this age.  Although I am pretty sure that at 16 she will still love getting money from her mom (but it will most likely be in bill form instead of coins).

I love that we were able to meet up at this little working farm to do photos.  There is so much to look at.  Molly had a great time exploring, even in her cute little dress.

Molly also loved meeting the animals.  She was enamored with the lambs and even fed them a bit (or at least shoved hay at them).  It was adorable.

I wish there was video to go with these pictures.  She was chatting and singing and dancing in the back of this wagon.  It was so fun to watch her be her little 2-year-old self.

And this is the not so glamorous side of parenting a 2 year old.   Oh the temper.  All because she wanted to hold the bottle of bubbles and her mama didn't want her to hold the bubbles and spill them all over herself and the ground.  But no worries.  A few minutes later (and after the spotting of some geese) she was back to herself.

I loved hanging out with this spunky, fun, adorable two year old and her sweet mama.

Happy Birthday Molly!

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