Maternity Pictures

While we were at the beach my friend Crystal took a few maternity pictures for me and I couldn't be more excited about them.  I had one request and she went above and beyond what I could have imagined.  I didn't do maternity pictures with Barrett and I knew I wanted a few to remember this time in my life.  

This was about the time some random guy was trying to take a picture of the sunset so I moved out of the way and then he was like no I want you in the picture and I was all that's kind of weird so I just stood there awkwardly.

This was the only thing I told her I wanted.  the rest were just icing on the cake.

This one is my absolute favorite!

I'm huge and don't exactly feel all that attractive but I love these first pictures of me and my girl together.  Huge shout out to my fabulous photographer Crystal and her faithful assistant Brittany (who also served as an on site stylist).

Picture Perfect

Y'all, I love Christmas cards!  I usually start to think about and browse card sites in August, (yes, I'm crazy.)  I start to think about our outfit and photo options.  By October I'm stressing over when we're going to be able to get the perfect family shot.  I can't wait to show y'all this years card but I'm late getting them out so you'll have to wait.  While you wait here is my thought process when it comes to choosing the perfect photo for your card.  I have a few musts when it comes to our Christmas card photo.

2012

 First, it must be a family picture.  We take pictures year round, but for our "perfect" card photo I like for it to include Ally Bama (our poodle that I rarely mention any more because I had a kid and I'm a bad poodle mom.)  When we first got her she went everywhere so this was not a problem.  Since having Barrett she goes fewer places so I had to make an effort to have her in the picture.  We also have two other big dogs.  Sometimes I catch flack for not including them but lets be honest 3 dogs, a baby and two adults is just not going to happen. 

2011

Second, since we now have a baby (almost toddler) the picture has to be fairly recent.  Babies change so much and I want everyone to get the most current look at our boy.  (When it was just Patrick, Ally and I we used a pictures from earlier in the year because we hadn't changed that much!)  This year we took our photo in early October and I already feel like Barrett has changed so much but it will have to do.  We usually take one on Thanksgiving but Patrick had to work this year and we knew it wasn't going to work out time wise.

2010

Lastly, I want it to look like us.  I like décor but not over done.  I'm not really into all the props and things that photographers are using these days.  Don't get me wrong I think the pictures are adorable and if that's your thing great.  It's just not my taste for our Christmas card.  I usually like a card with an actual design and I don't want the props from the photo to make it too busy.  (If you chose a more simple card with the photos with the props would probably be cute.)  I like to find an outdoor location with minimal background "noise".  This year I was going to use this really pretty field but it was raining so we went to a local park that has a brick concession stand with an awning.  It turned out better than I'd imagined it would.  Now that we have Barrett, I want to have family photos done professionally at least once a year.  We had some done in June but they weren't recent enough and Ally wasn't in them.  I think I'll wait and maybe do a mini family session with a professional next year.  Then again I may not.

I took these pictures for a my friend Natalie of her sweet little family.  Perfect example of photos with kiddos.  Caden is in that fake smile stage and sweet little Emory just goes with the flow.  I felt like this perfectly captured the Campbell in this stage of life.  We chose a nearby park and it was so natural and simple.

When it comes time to actually choose that one (or two or three) picture(s) I try not to stress.  I want the one that has the most people looking and the most natural looking smiles.  I probably put way to much time into this process but it's important to me.  When our friends and family open our card I want them to think, "that is so them!"  You know what I mean?

This is one of my favorite Christmas card photos.  I took it a couple years ago of these sweet newlyweds (well they had just celebrated their first anniversary).  I feel like you can just tell they love life.  Those smiles made me smile when I looked at their card.

Here's one of the photos from our little session.

I'll share our adorable card from Tiny Prints one day next week.

I can't wait to share it with y'all!

Family Photos

A few weeks ago we had some family photos made.  I was so excited to finally have some decent photos of all 3 of us.  I have been so sad that we didn't have any newborn photos done other than the ones in the hospital.  I wish I had more pictures of me with my tiny newborn baby.  I booked a mini session with Lacey Barnwell from LB Studios.  I love her work and was so excited to work with her.  I think she did a great job capturing our little family.

Here are a few photos from the session.



I love Barrett's eyebrow in this one.

I love them all so much!  

Hopefully it won't be another 6 months before I get a decent family photo!

Wordless Wednesday

Snotos

A few shots of the snow tonight.

It is beautiful out tonight!  I can't wait for Patrick to get home so I'll have someone to play in it with!

Maternity Photos

Last Sunday I shot some precious maternity photos with a friend of mine.  She and her husband are expecting their first child and are beyond excited!  I'd never shot maternity photos before and she was willing to be my guinea pig.  I think we got some great shots and I wanted to share a few of my favorites!

 

Last night I got together with Patrick's aunts and cousins to celebrate my SIL Allison's birthday.  We had a blast.  Vikki made a huge pot of chili and potato soup with all the fix ins.  It was wonderful!  I enjoy getting together with these women so much.  I always manage to laugh a lot.  Aunt Melanie brought these beautiful cupcakes from Gigi's in Madison.  They were to die for.  Absolutely wonderful! 

Allison with her birthday cupcake.  She chose the wedding cake one. 

I was supposed to go watch Miss America with my daddy.  But I never made it over there.  I really didn't even watch the pageant. 

Today I went to church then to my parents for lunch.  My sister was home from school and my baby brother was home from Muscle Shoals for the weekend so we had a nice lunch together.  (MY older brother had to work so he didn't get to make it)  After lunch we all played wii.  I love wii. 

Porter with Bentley.  They are both so cute!  (Bentley is my brother's girlfriend's dog!)

 After lunch I went to do a little Maternity shoot with a friend of mine who is 32 weeks pregnant and looks fabulous! 

A little sneak peak from the shoot today.  I love this shot!  It might be one of my favorites shots ever!

That was our weekend in a nutshell!  We were supposed to go grocery shopping but we never made it.  Maybe tomorrow. 

Slumber Party

No decorations yet...they're slowly going up.  I wasn't as motivated as I'd hoped!  I'll have it all finished by next week hopefully!
Now to the slumber party.  Ava, Harper and I had a blast last night!  I picked them up then I had to take some pictures of some friends for their Christmas card so they tagged along and were so good.  When we were on our way home from Amy and Sean's, Patrick called and his parents were having trouble with their printer so I stopped by there to see if I could help.  It was taking me a little longer than I thought it would and the girls were being really shy.  Mrs. Horton offered them some candy and they acted like they'd known her for years!  It was really sweet.  We left there and finally made it to my house.  We ate hot dogs for dinner.  I think Harper only ate ketchup.  After the movie we watched Beauty and the Beast.  Which is my favorite Disney movie.  They quickly went to sleep after the movie and slept till 8:00 this morning when Ally woke them up.  We ate breakfast, took baths, got dressed and made it to church 10 minutes early.  I was pretty proud of myself!

Those are just a couple of the shots of Amy, Sean and Chloe.  I thought they turned out so cute! 

Getting ready to watch Beauty and the Beast!

I told them to make a funny face. I was the only one who listened!

We had a great time.  I love getting to be an aunt.  It was so sweet to hear them laughing this morning when Ally went in to wake them up.  I think Ally loved having them here!  It's been a great weekend!  I'm so looking forward to this week.  We have lots going on!  I have a feeling it's only the beginning of a very busy holiday season!

Wordless Wednesday

Sweet new baby

Last week I shot this sweet, little week old baby boy!  He was so good and I had so much fun with his family!

I think this is my favorite one of the day.