1.10.2011

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.







1.09.2011

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...













  
  
  

1.07.2011

The S kids {sneak peek}

These beautiful kiddos and I headed out to snap some pictures recently. How cute are they? Despite the chill in the air we had a fun time! And are you kidding me?! I think they both have the prettiest eyes I have ever seen!

B- thanks for asking me to take some pictures!










1.05.2011

good times had by all...Christmas 2010

get it? Good times? Bwahahahaha! That joke never gets old. Unless you are my husband and he is officially sick of all good jokes. Dude - I'm on a roll.

Anyways. Sorry about that.

We had an absolutely wonderful holiday. We are so incredibly blessed to have parents that truly enjoy getting together with each other so we were ALL together again this year in Denver. Ridiculously delicious food. Beautiful weather. Wonderful company. The entire holiday will make for wonderful memories for years to come. It was so fun that we declared it a tradition from here on...we'll all celebrate together every year. Here, there or anywhere in between, the Good/Bell Christmas will continue.

Campbell enjoyed her first holiday in true Campbell fashion: big bows, lots of smiles and giggles and LOTS of attention from 4 doting grandparents, an uncle & an uncle's girlfriend. (mom & dad enjoyed the extra help!) I'm pretty sure she only took naps in her grandparents' arms the entire time we were there. And she loved every minute of it.

The best part? Christmas Eve night I dreamed about Campbell & Parker. They were both there, together with Mat & I in the dream. It's the first dream I've had about Parker. Best Christmas present by far. I knew that even though Parker wasn't there, she was there.


I'm going stop talking and let the pictures do the talking. If you're like me, that's your favorite part of blog stocking anyways, right?

Get ready... there's a LOT.
quality time with Grammy

making the world famous Good egg nog

Christmas morning

quality time with Uncle Marshall

opening her first Christmas present!


Like father, like grand daughter...? Yikes.


Grandad

nap time with nana

fly fishing.... in the backyard

tutus make a holiday


Marshall + Katie = cuteness!


racing the stocking stuffer goodies





And's that it. Our wonderful, special, fun, crazy, emotional, family holiday. Can't wait for next year!

1.02.2011

ready or not... resolution time

Okay I'm on the boat. I've been doing a lot of thinking about resolutions today.  I'll be honest, after my 3rd cup of coffee this morning I had resolved to change just about everything in my life...all for the better obviously. (And none of those resolutions include decreasing my coffee intake. FYI Carissa, I'm very disappointed that resolution.) I always "give" myself Jan. 1 as a "think" day and actually dive into kicking off the resolutions on Jan. 2. Why? Because I can.
So I was thinking today and then read two of my bf's blogs about their resolutions and was motivated to blog a few of my happy little resolutions. It will be nice to look back in a year and reflect on how I did.

Here we go:
1) No more desserts. I might be crazy, but I have convinced myself to give up desserts. No more cookies, fudge, brownies, chocolate chips, cupcakes, candy. You get the picture. I'm going to be honest - it's painful to even write it, but I realized today that my eating...well my life in general... lacks discipline. I used to be so disciplined. Up every morning at the crack of dawn to get a 5-6 mile run in. Three meals, two snacks. No carbs. No desserts - ever - not even the random m&m. No mindless eating. You call it boring. I call it disciplined.  And then 2010 happened. It 100% kicked my butt.  From Feb. 1 on, I was in pure survival mode. And it's okay, but running and healthy eating went out the window. Time to get some control. And a treadmill.

2) Healthy Eating. Goodbye Pioneer Woman. Hello South Beach. This goes hand in hand with #1. I basically have realized that Operation: Get Fatty didn't end with Campbell's birth. I just kept on eating. As I've started making Campbell's baby food and have been a psycho-path concerned mom about the foods that go in her little body I've realized that I need to be more concerned about what I eat.  And with this concern, I've pledged to eat my veggies. Ugh. Yep...move over chocolate chip cookies and hello broccoli, salad, asparagus, etc. Basically I've begun to realize that I am responsible for my child's healthy eating and that responsibility starts with being a good role model. I just won't be pureeing my organic veggies with breast milk anytime soon...

3) Blogging. After reading Jami & Carissa's posts about blogging this week I have been inspired and motivated. They're right. We have a very big job. We're the memory keepers. (thanks Jami... I love that thought...) I want to remember all my family's moments. The big ones. The little ones. The funny ones. The sad ones. The challenging ones. The random pictures that show the craziness of every day life.  Everything. So I'm going to be a better {family} blogger. I might even get my {embrace} on again on Thursdays. And I don't even own a baby book...so I really need to be good at this.

4) Be better about having friends/neighbors over for meals. We kind of stink at that but we are promising to get better!!

5) Date nights. I promised to do a weekly date night last year. Then we had a baby. And have had only  two non-grandparent-babysitter date nights. So I think that means we have had 4 dates TOTAL since June 14.  I guess it's not horrible...but it's not amazing either. It's time to get our date on and use some baby sitters.

6) Be a better girlfriend. I've had quite a few friends insinuate that I had dropped off the face of the earth the past year. Well I pretty much did. Blame it on a high risk pregnancy, colicky baby, nap stikes, motherhood ...whatever it was, it kicked my tail. So I'm going to make a concerted effort to get out of the house and make plans with girlfriends.

7) Put down the *insert name of electronic gadget here* and focus on my child. I've become horrible at trying to check my email on my phone, check facebook, read blogs all while "playing" with my child. That sucks.  No email, text or fb update is near as important as playing with my baby.

8) Laugh. Just enjoy life & not take things so seriously. Laugh at myself, my husband, our baby, our dogs. Enjoy life and living it together.

There you have it. My 2011 resolutions.  In a way, I am really glad to shut the door on 2010. It will always be a significant year in our family history. We loved. We lost. We grew. Despite not keeping any of my resolutions last year - it will forever be a year that changed us. But I'm ready for a fresh start. Fresh memories and laughter. Lots of laughter.

What about you? Any resolutions you want to share with me?

1.01.2011

Baby K: 3 month pics {sneak peek}

This little lady is growing like a weed. I love seeing how much she has already changed in 3 months! We're talking chubby cheeks, sassy smiles & wide eyes. I'm pretty sure that she & C are going to be good friends... and up to all sorts of shenanigans!

Happy 3 month birthday baby K!