good eats

It's supposed to be ridiculously icky this week. Like 3 feet of snow and a blizzard icky. Okay, maybe just 13 inches...but still a blizzard. With sub zero temps. As ready as I am for summer, pool time, cookouts, dinner salads...I need to seize the moment and chow down on some comfort food. And for all you stay at home moms out there...I officially declare it a snow week. Stay home with your babies and try desperately not to get cabin fever. ha. And for all of your working moms I also declare it a snow week. Just tell you bosses I said you could stay home.

I'm making a huge effort to not forget anything at the grocery store today because lord knows i'm not going to be bopping down to the store for a forgotten item in a BLIZZARD. Wish me luck.

Oh and one of my best friends, Cori and I narrowed down our half marathon decision to Austin this April. Can't wait to head to my home state, run a beautiful race and have a fun weekend with one of my besties. So now thanks to Cori and Hal Higdon I'm officially "in training".  And my body has apparently decided it needs to eat all the time to make up for all the extra caloric burn right now...ha!

Review on last week's meals:
Full Moon Tortilla Soup: I clearly am no expert at making roux...Had I made it correctly the soup would have been awesome, but i literally threw out the first batch, googled "how to make roux" & started over from scratch and still couldn't get it right. We both agreed had the roux been right, the soup would have been amazing. (Alayna, Maybe you could come redesign my entire home and while you are at it, teach me how to make roux? Thanks!)
Brussel sprouts: These are making a comeback this week. I used a barefoot contessa recipe last week that was good, not great. BUT then my friend Heather told me about an amazing recipe involving bacon! (Bacon & Veggies! Sounds totally pw to me...yes please!) Her husband assured my husband that it was amazing.... so mat was willing to take the risk two weeks in a row.  get excited folks.
Honey Pecan Chicken: YUM! Thanks Lyndsey! I used chicken tenders instead of chopping up raw chicken breasts (I have a fear of chopping raw poultry)

Okay, here's what's cooking this week:

Monday: Homemade pizza (WF has an amazing frozen dough that is CHEAP), caesar salad

Tuesday: PW's French Onion Soup, crusty bread

Wednesday: Carissa's BBQ pork sandwiches

Thursday: Mushroom/Swiss Chicken with Heather's Brussel Sprouts

Friday: Takeout

Saturday: Friend's birthday party

Alright. stay warm. eat comfort food.

{embrace} the camera

Meet my second shooter.

Well, kind of.

Actually not at all...but it sounds cute.

I guess this is what happens when your mom 

starts a photography business.

You get to "help" when she has a session

by getting the camera on the right settings,

setting up the family room studio

testing out the props

trying some poses.

Just another day at the Good house.

and mom completely ignores the fact that you have some sort of crap on your face.

And by the way, this little lady has been on a ridiculous amount 

of sessions. You should see a 35 wk prego trying to take pictures up on  wall 

or in a tree

or laying on her belly in the grass. 

Hilarious.

I'm not sure if she's more helpful now .... or then...

PS: Some of you have asked about the water mark. I put them on all my posted clients pics (obviously). And now I put them on all of our family pics. It is WAY too easy to steal pics out there in blogger land. 

Talk about creepy.

If you don't do it, I highly recommend it. Google how to do it ... it's not hard at all.

Big Boy E: 1st Birthday! {sneak peek}

Lesson #27 in adventures in parenting: hire a photographer for birthday parties.

Or at least delegate the responsibility to a family member.

Seriously, what mom has time to snap pictures as she is trying to make sure every 

last detail is taken care of for her child's first birthday?

Speaking of fantastic birthday's, my friend Anne, of Fluffy Cakes Designs recently 

threw an amazing birthday for her sweet little guy complete with cotton candy, circus peanuts, the best homemade pretzels ever and a PHOTO BOOTH! FUN!

Can you guess the theme?

Under the big top. 

CUTE CUTE CUTE. 

As you can see... a good time was definitely had by all!

Thanks H family for letting me be a part of your little guy's special day!

(And seriously Anne...start helping me with some birthday party ideas.... I've only got 4 1/2 months.)

and just because these party guests were  ridiculously cute....

good eats

For about 2 years now I've been making a weekly menu plan for our family.

If you don't plan out a menu... I highly recommend it.

It takes very little time and you can do ALL your week's grocery shopping at once. 

You save time, $ and stress.

I love looking at friend's weekly menu's and stealing their ideas getting some inspiration. 

So here's our menu if you need a bit of inspiration yourself this week:

Sunday: Full Moon Cafe tortilla soup (thanks Alayna!)

Guac, chips

Monday: Spaghetti, Caesar Salad, Green beans

Tuesday: Italian French Dip, brussel sprouts roasted with parm (don't panic Mat... you'll like them)

Wednesday: Honey Pecan Chicken, sweet potato fries (thanks Lyndsey!)

Thursday: Leftover french dip, salad

Friday: Friends over for dinner!! (sticking with a resolution!)

Speaking of resolutions...I've been amazingly strong failed miserably with the whole no dessert policy.

It lasted 2 1/2 weeks. 

And then I was tempted by my husband and blue moose cookies.

If you haven't tried blue moose cookies, you should go there right this second. 

They will change your life forever. 

Oh well. At least I'm finally running my little toosh off on our new treadmill and

training for a half marathon with one of my besties. 

Half marathon, spa weekend, shopping trip...Yes Please.

I think that warrants eating desserts. 

Just a couple of sickies.

Being sick stinks.

Being sick with a sick baby stinks way worse.

You wouldn't know that a certain baby was sick until 

you saw the snot faucet running out of her nose. 

Who knew such a teeny tiny nose could have so much snot?

Gross.

It's 3:00 and we are still in our PJs.

There's 3 feet of snow outside.

Well maybe not that much, but after 6 inches its all the same.

We've snuggled and napped together all day. 

I guess the upside of having a sick baby is that she finally took a nap longer than 20 minutes.

There is always a silver lining.

I'm done whining.

 We'll be better soon.

baby f: newborn pics {sneak peek}

I am in baby heaven these days. It seems like everyone we know is expecting and I LOVE it. ( FYI these precious little newborns are not helping my baby fever!)  This little guy is simply precious. When the S family ask me to photograph their new little guy I could NOT wait to snuggle him & take some pictures!!

K&P thank you so much for asking me to photograph your little bundle of joy! He is absolutely perfect! 

   

seven months: a day in the life

Seven months have come and gone. I can truly say the past 7 months have been a blur of laughter, spit up, play dates & diapers. Miss C continues to grow and change over night.  I feel like each new day has a new accomplishment. I struggle at times between wanting her to meet that next milestone and wanting to freeze time and not let her get any older. {just being honest.} I feel so blessed that I can stay home with her. I know being a stay at home mom isn't for everyone - but I can truly say its the best job I've ever had. By far. When I go to bed at night I can honestly say I look forward to the next day's adventure. And if that isn't the sign of the best job ever, I don't know what is.

Here's a glimpse into our daily life:

playing: girlfriend loves her toys - especially her life size penguin, her sing-a-ma-jig and dantsy antsy (and to think I swore we'd never have loud obnoxious toys) She REALLY loves when he daddy gets home.

the dogs: the love affair with harley continues. somedays I think she might love her more than us...

food: we LOVE LOVE LOVE food. I seriously can't feed her fast enough. If I pause for one second too long, she grabs the spoon out of my hand and shoves it in her mouth. Current favorites include: sweet potatoes, peas, carrots & pears. She's not a big avocado fan but I mix it in lots of stuff because it is so good for her. I've been making all of her food and really enjoying it. Especially now that I'm using a Beaba! (thanks Goods!)

talking: this little girl talks up a storm. Lots of talking, laughing & squealing. I'm already anticipating her parent teacher conferences...

friends: Campbell  loves being around other babies...She's still learning how to "play" with them, but her little face just lights up when she sees other babes.
Her's a few we've had play dates with recently:

baby leighton giving some sugar

baby khloe

baby luke. having a hard time understanding why he doesn't get to wear beautiful bows too.

 motor skills: sitting like a pro.  kind of moves in circles on her tummy. LOVES to jump. reaches for everything.

naps: while they are FAR better than they were, they still leave quite a bit to be desired. Naps are typically 20-45 minutes. OCCASIONALLY there will be a 3 hour nap in there. But not often. Compared to the first 3 months, I'll take what I can get!

And the hands are always behind the head. Love it=)

please notice the scowl. She is NOT a fan of naptime.

music: I think we might just have a future mozart on our hands. Girlfriend loves her music. Today she rocked out to Willie Nelson in the car. Not only does she dance, she sings. Love it. Her play list includes: Willie Nelson, Dave Mathews (ironic since she sat 5th row at their concert before she grew ears!), One Eskimo & *grrrrrr* Katy Perry.

teething: nada. Although I swear she's been teething for 4 months... HOPEFULLY I'll have something to show you next month!

Campbell Hope, 

I can't tell you how happy I am to be your mama. 

I love our days together. 

I love cuddling with you after naps. 

I love playing with you.

 I love listening to your stories. 

You have changed my world more than you will ever know and

 I am head over heels crazy about you. 

{embrace} the camera: uggalicious

Remember these teeny tiny toes??

There now covered in teeny tiny uggs.

And yes, we rock our mommy daughter uggs with our mommy daughter skinny jeans.

In public. 

Just in case you were wondering. 

Ridiculous. I know.

PS: Completely, utterly, totally ready for spring and bare little toes. 

SNOW DAY!

So apparently snow days aren't that different from any 'ol day when you are a stay at home mom?

C was so excited she was up at 3:30. and 5:30. and finally 6:00.

I was so excited I parked it on the couch at 6:00 and watched all the school closings. 

Brought back many many years of wishing I'd see my school's name roll across the screen...

It was just like any other day... with 6 inches of snow & a photo shoot.

Oh, and apparently someone got the memo that she is too cool for naps now? 

What the what?! 

Come on... who can say no to those baby blues? I'm in for a world of trouble folks.

the w family: maternity photos {sneak peek}

baby season is in full swing and i am loving it. there is something contagious about the excitement... the butterflies ... the unknown...the preparation.

anyways, meet the w family...two incredibly driven people who are about to welcome a little girl into their lives. I was seriously giddy with excitement as we drove around snapping pictures. we had a fun time driving around on an arctic cold brisk winter morning. it even snowed!

s & t: i am so excited for you guys! you are going to be wonderful parents. congrats on the most wonderful adventure that life offers...parenthood! and if she get's t's eyes.... lets just say you are going to be beating the boys away with a stick!

s - i promise to try to incorporate the "shovel and shotgun" into baby #2's pictures...