Merry Christmas!

WOW! This year has had its very own share of challenges and has taught me so many things. One is that I am extremely addicted to my computer and when it is down, boy, the withdrawals are no fun! I have had two significant events with my computer in the past three months along with my busiest season ever (of which I am so incredibly grateful)! I am so thankful to have a friend like Rod Oshel who can fix anything Microsoft and what a blessing he has been in my life this year! Without him I don't know what I would have done.

Check out my photo blog for some of my precious little clients from the past few months. Much more updating to come over there as well.

So needless to say this poor little blog has been feeling quite neglected in 2009 but I'm my plans are to show it much more love in 2010. Please stay tuned and don't leave me now! I haven't stopped documenting my precious children and hopefully soon I'll be able to share all of their wonderful adventures lately. Until next time, here is our family Christmas card this year. Merry Christmas everyone!

Montgomery Parents Magazine

I was thrilled when Michele Mulder contacted me about using a picture that I took from last Fall's Kindermusik class to use in an ad for a summer advertisement she is running in Montgomery Parents magazine. I even got to help with the design of the ad! Be on the look out and see if you can find him! I think it ran in the July and August editions and I'm not sure if it is in the September edition or not. I believe it is also running in a publication that is distributed to Air Force families as well.

Walking Practice

Owen has been getting in lots of walking practice these days since he has discovered his push toys. He can fly pusing these things around but still hasn't gotten the confidence to let go and do it on his own.

(Video embedded)

UPDATE: This was captured a month ago and while he has gotten more efficient he still is yet to be label "a walker" yet!

More Fun with Food!

Oh I could have a post everyday about our adventures with Owen's eating! This was another particularly funny episode one evening at dinner. He was sitting right next to us doing his thing and when I looked up this is what I found! I can't tell you how fast this happened. I guess we weren't paying him enough attention! Needless to say he went straight to the tub!

Art Time!

If an effort to keep them busy and out of the kitchen while trying to make dinner one evening I pulled out the roll paper and let them go to town. They loved it! Owen climbed up into Katelyn's chair like a big boy and scribbled like a champ! Katelyn has always love art and now Owen is showing the same interest. A new set of toddler markers kept Katelyn occupied for quite some time.

Panama City Beach

We were so excited to get to go the beach again this year during the week that Aunt Kaye and her family were down there. We only stayed a couple of days but it was perfect to get my "beach fix" for the summer! The kids absolutely loved it! I have to warn you that this is a picture heavy post! I had lots of favorites and no good way to collage them. Enjoy!






I couldn't get over how much Owen loved the sand and as expected would crawl on ANYTHING! He would take off crawling across the beach and not look back!

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I think we have a future swimsuit model in the family! Baylor couldn't get enough of the sand and surf!


One of the folks set up behind us had this great idea of burying a big plasic tub in the sand and fill it with water. It was the perfect cool down spot for the kids.




Katelyn really enjoyed playing in the surf this year!




Of course it didn't take her long to find some friends, as she likes to call "her size", to play with.



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Owen even enjoyed a little nap on the beach in my lap. Aw sweet heaven!


One evening Bart & Katelyn went out to ride go-carts with everyone and Owen & I decided to just hang back at the condo. We walked out to the beach around sunset and I just enjoyed watching the surf while he played in the sand. It was a very impromptu outing and the only camera I had on me was my camera phone. Even though this image is not the best quality it is an all-time favorite moment! Man I wished I had had my big camera out there that afternoon!


Our last night at the beach we enjoyed dinner at Pineapple Willy's. Aunt Kaye bought the kids a shirt and it has become one of Katelyn's favorites. She is constantly asking to wear her "Pineapple Willy's shirt"!! It was a fun evening!




While waiting for our table we spent some time listening to a great reggae band. The kids had a blast taking over the dance floor.


Owen was even caught shaking his booty!


When it was time to go home the kids didn't want to leave! Katelyn still talks about the fun she had at the beach this summer!


I didn't do any formal family pictures of us this trip. We are planning to go to Gulf Shores in October for the Alabama Shrimp Festival so I'm hoping to do our annual family pictures then. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Owen will be walking by then!!

Learning to Self Feed

Oh my! Owen has turned into Mr. Independent! Gone are the days of feeding him and keeping everything nice and clean. At 14 months he now insists on doing it himself! Regardless of what he is eating he has to have a fork or spoon. He absolutely refuses to eat if you try to feed him or even remotely try to help him. I couldn't resist taking pictures of this cute messy face after eating ravioli one day.




Oh and when he turns his plate over and starts feeding Ruthie, he's done. :)

Bath Fun

My two birds absolutely LOVE bathtime! As soon as dinner is finished Owen knows it is time for baths and gets all excited. One evening I caught Katelyn throwing water on her brother and Owen was loving every minute of it. Oh the payback she is going to get one day!! I couldn't resist capturing their sweet giggles.


Who needs bath toys?!? Just throw in some cups and they would entertain themselves for hours if I let them. Cups are by far the most fought after item in our tub!

Playdate at Surfside Water Park

It seems to have been a tradition each summer to go to Surfside Water Park in Auburn each July. We have been every summer starting when Katelyn was only 2 months old! She loves it there and it is a nice refreshing treat. Here are the links from 2008, 2007, and 2006!


This year was Owen's first year to join us. Last year he stayed back at home so Katelyn could get some one-on-one attention. This year was quite the handle chasing two little ones at a water park. In fact we all had two to chase this year and wow what a difference that made. Owen decided to be unusually clingy even though he normally LOVES the water and Katelyn kept begging me to do things with her so I was completely worn out by the end of the day. With all that I didn't get many pictures this year. Here are a few of my favorites.











And this was the scene shortly after leaving the parking lot!! I just wish I could have put the truck on auto-pilot and slept with them!

Summer Fun at Gymboree

Since Kindermusik didn't have a regular summer program we decided to try out Gymboree as a fun activity for several weeks. The kids absolutely loved it! They got to get out all of their pent up energy on the play equipment each week while learning to use their imagination through play. As soon as we walked in each week Owen would get super excited and his little legs would start kicking wanting to be put down so he could go! That boy was not shy in the least! Ms. Brittney did a great job with the kids. It was the perfect indoor activity to beat the summer heat! As a bonus they were sound asleep in the car each week before I even got on the road good. Aaahhh! Sweet silence! :)

Boomerang Express - VBS 2009

In July we attended Vacation Bible School at Frazer UMC. Usually it is only open to ages 4 and up but children of volunteers can go each year as well. I always try to do what I can to help out so the kids can join in the fun as well. This was Katelyn's first year in the regular VBS program instead of the nursery area. It was a good thing because Owen came down with a fever virus the first of the week and I wasn't able to do as much this year as I would have liked. With Rosie's help watching Owen I was able to stay a couple of days to take pictures for the church. Here are a few highlights of Katelyn from the week. She had a great time!


There were over 800 children attending VBS each day. The mission project for the week was to collect food to donate to the Montgomery Area Food Bank. Can you believe the kids collected over 2700 items for the food bank?!? It was incredible!

Fun With Paul

The summertime is always busy with friends joining us for some fun on the lake. Paul and Laura were at the house one weekend and Owen got to playing catch with Paul at the table. I got so tickled watching them. Watch how Owen acts like he is going to throw the ball to Laura (who is across from him just outside the camera view) but then turns it on Paul without even looking. He would just laugh and laugh! Too cute! (Video Embedded)

One Year Portrait Update

Wow! It has been a month since my one year portrait poll post! Sorry everyone for my absence. My photography life got really busy there for a while! I'm loving every minute of it but I've had to put aside my personal stuff for a little while to stay caught up. I didn't stop documenting them so I have lots to post. I've got a couple of days break before it gets cranked up again so I'm hoping I can get lots posted to the blog this week so you can see what we've been up to lately.

I did want to post a follow-up on the poll. This was the winning entry and my personal favorite as well! I'm amazed at how much he has changed in such a short time. I don't see it everyday but when I look back at something as recent as this you can really tell the differences.


Thought you all might be interested to see Katelyn's one year portrait again as well! Back then I took her to Barry Chrietzberg's studio for pictures because she would not cooperate with me in the least! I am so grateful to Barry for helping me capture my sweet girl's first year.


We had just gotten Ruthie for Katelyn's first birthday so I thought it would be neat to have a picture of them together each year since she is "KK's Dog!" Ruthie loves to sleep with her every night.


Ruthie has also changed quite a bit. Here's a pic from Father's Day weekend back in June. She turned three years old in April.

We're still alive...barely!

Yes, I know. I'm majorly behind with my postings here but if you check out my photography blog you'll see I've had lots and lots of beautiful children keeping me very busy lately! I am so blessed with all of the opportunities I've been given lately. Owen and Katelyn are doing great and I'm still documenting them along the way as well. I just haven't had much extra time to post to this blog lately but it's coming...one day I hope!! ;)

Katelyn started back to school and is in K4 this year going 5 days a week (only 3 hours per day). This year has been quite the challenge so far to say the least. Her first week she went kicking and screaming everyday and it had me totally baffled. This is a child that has always LOVED school and went running in never looking back. This year she is crying and clinging to my leg every morning. Talk about stress! We were just short of pulling her out of school all together before we could finally get out of her what was going on. After about 4 days she finally told us that one of her classmates that sits right next to her was giving her a hard time. Presto! A quick chat with her teacher solved that problem and she has been a happy girl since! Man! I was just about at my wit's end! So I'm hoping and praying for a great week of school this week with NO TEARS! I would normally post a first day of school picture here but I haven't even had time to work on them yet! AAAHHHH!! More to come I promise!

Owen is taking more and more steps everyday. His attitude is rapidly developing as well. What have I gotten myself into?!? Yes, Mom, payback is *%(#!! ;)

I'm bracing myself for THIS to happen one day... (video embedded). I just know it is coming. Any dibs on who will do this first - Owen or Katelyn?



Have a great week everyone! More to come soon one day! :)

Sick Little Boy

Okay, so I'm still a little behind in posting (not much though and I'm gaining fast!) but I couldn't resist sharing this sweet pic of my little man. Week before last he started running a fever and the doctor determined it to be just a virus. Lots of Tylenol and Motrin got us through the week. He did not have other symptoms other than a high fever. For the most part he tolerated it well and acted fairly normal. I couldn't resist snapping this pic of him with his Daddy one evening. It reminded me of a very similar shot of Katelyn and Daddy when she was very close in age.


Unfortunately he missed the entire week of Vacation Bible School. I'm happy to report he is all better and at full speed ahead these days.

Owen's 1 year portraits

I just did a big photo post of Owen's 1 year pictures at my photography blog.Check it out! Please enter your vote in the embedded poll as to which image you like best for his 1 year portrait. I can't decide and I need your help!

Cartwheels

Katelyn has learned to do a cartwheel and she is so excited. When I was videoing Owen's first steps behind the toy shopping cart the other day she requested that I also video her cartwheel. She has asked me numerous times if I was going to put it on the blog! So here you go! Be sure to ask her about it when you see her! ;)

(Embedded video: You may have to go to actual blog to view.)

Cruising

Owen's walking (or lack of interest thereof) has frustrated me for weeks now. Katelyn was walking by this time and he continues to show no interest whatsoever. I guess because he didn't master crawling on all fours until the week before his first birthday he is quite content with his present mode of transportation. He does cruise around the furniture and pull up on any and everything that is stationary. He even has no fear of climbing! We have caught him on the dining room table many times! YIKES! Dr. Wood assures me that as long as he is walking by 18 months there is really nothing to worry about. Input from others online reassure me that this is not as uncommon as I thought. It is just so hard hauling around a 25 pound stapping boy around on my hip all day! Get up and walk buddy!! :)

I did get a little encouragement the other day when he decided to walk behind a toy shopping cart. He was so proud of himself! Notice how his first steps were not slow and steady but close to a RUN! Oh my, I guess this is a sign of things to come??

(Embedded video: You may have to go to the blog site to view.)

Story Time!

Owen LOVES to sit in Katelyn's princess desk. He climbs up in it frequently and just grins thinking he is such a big boy! I caught this precious shot the other day as I was getting ready and couldn't resist snapping a shot regardless of the bad lighting. They were BOTH reading to each other. I'm so glad they love each other!

Pool Playdate

Swimming has been our main activity this summer it seems! With upper 90 degree heat it's the best way to stay cool. A couple of weeks ago we meet up with several friends at Emily's brother's house to play in his pool. The kids loved being together and us moms sure thrive on the adult conversation! :)

Fun with Goggles

After seeing several kids at the YMCA using goggles, Katelyn decided she needed some too. Here are my two silly birds trying them on for the first time. They both thought it was pretty funny!! Not the best pics but too cute not to share!

Independence Day Weekend

Traditionally the 4th of July weekend has been "Carmichael Weekend" for us. This is the time when Gigi's sisters and their families get together for a weekend of fun in the sun. We were missing several folks this year so it wasn't quite the same not having everyone together but fun in the sun we had.




Gigi's kitten Tillie even took a dip in the pool! Katelyn thought it was hilarious! Tillie did not.


Here Katelyn is trying to make up with Tillie for her swim. As you can see Tillie was not feeling very forgiving. ;)


Owen got in lots of slide time! (Embedded video: If you are reading this in an email or reader you may have to go to the actual blog site to view.)


Owen was a cool dude in Poppy's sunglasses!


Katelyn is 100% Daddy's Girl!


We couldn't let the weekend pass without our annual family picture! Thanks Gigi for this year's goofy hats! ;) Can you find Bart?


Saturday evening we drove out to Walter Bouldin Dam to watch the fireworks. No more getting out on the boat to watch the fireworks for me! It is crazy out there with hundreds of boaters. I was excited to find an awesome place to get some fireworks pictures this year!








Chad, Stephanie, Cameron, Hannah, Adam, Lindsey, Baylor, Hunter, and Evan were not able to make it this year. We really missed you guys!!

The rest of the images are HERE.