Its all the rage…Do It Yourself. We bought this house just about 7 months ago and even though it isn’t in bad shape, it is a fixer upper! That is what we wanted though. I am totally on a DIY kick these days…I have about 10 million projects going on right now and have yet to finish one! As soon as I finish one, I’ll start to post my before & afters here on my blog. We finally have our Open House on the calendar (its about time!!) and so we’re working hard to get this house a little bit more presentable. In the mean time, I’m hopelessly obsessed with DIY mommy blogs…I’m amazed at some women out there and all the projects they can get done and still homeschool their 25 children (or something like that!)

Karla from one of my favorite blogs, it’s the little things that make a house a home,  is hosting a give-away for a decal from Leen the Graphics Queen. I’ve always wanted one of these cute decals for my home. I know you like them as much as I do! Enter and see if you win! If I win, I will probably get this one…since you’all know laundry is the bain of my existence and I have great redo plans for my tiny laundry closet.

or this one would be adorable over Lily’s crib…

(photos from Leen the Graphics Queen)

A face this cute needs dandelions over her bed!!!

I am so behind in my blog posts! I’ve got so much to catch up on. Its been a very crazy past couple weeks. Everything from a wonderful girls’ weekend to my Grandpa getting married (yep!) to photographing my first birth…there is a lot to share!

I was looking across the hundreds of photos I’ve taken over the past couple weeks and saw this one. I don’t think you can get anything more precious. These are the cousins…

Also, I can’t believe it slipped my mind. But remember back a few months ago when I was asking for votes for the KCRA A list? I am so thankful to everyone who voted for me. I didn’t place in the top 5 in Sacramento, so I wasn’t able to know my ranking. Its ok though! It was just so lovely to see those of you say such wonderful things about me and my photography. I promised that if you voted for me and left me a comment, I would put those names in a hat and draw a winner of a complimentary session. I’m please to announce that JUANITA is the winner! She’s a photographer herself, and a dear friend. Hey Juanita! Maybe we can do a swap??? I need family photos!

Don’t forget, mini-sessions are coming up! If you’re considering family photos at all, maybe engagements or you’re a grad on a budget, these are the sessions for you. Shoot me an email or give me a call and we can talk further.

My sweet baby nephew… (He is so much chubbier now! This was taken almost a month ago!)

What a wonderful trip I had with my amazing girlfriends….too bad I came home to a crazy sinus infection! But I’m pretty ok now and to all of you who are waiting on emails or calls from me, I will be contacting you soon!

I’ve got some really fun news to share! I absolutely know that there are families, couples, grads out there that would love to have a photo session but haven’t been able to. I know that in light of financial situations and busy schedules, professional photos have become a luxury. With Christmastime rolling around, this is the season to capture some special moments! So I will be holding mini-sessions the first week of November!  These sessions will be fun, relaxed, quick and with the session you’ll receive some great products. Also, if you’ve contacted me lately to schedule a regular session, you are more than welcome to book a mini-session spot instead.

Please contact me if you are interested in reserving your mini-session spot! (Because of the duration of these sessions I won’t be able to include newborns or families larger than 5 members.)

I’m taking a very rare trip with some amazing girlfriends of mine…one of which I haven’t seen since before Zach was born! To say I’m excited would be an understatement. Pray for my amazing husband while I’m gone! He’s going to get some real quality time with our kids.

If you contact me by email or phone in the next week,  I will get back to you as soon as I return! Just to let you know, the portfolio building (ahem…complimentary!) birth sessions are still available. I’ve had a lot of interest, but nothing has been able to formulate yet. I would like these sessions to be completed by the end of November! I’m not looking for a “certain type” of birth either, no two labor experiences are alike! So if you are at all interested, please contact me and lets talk!

Also, in an effort to help those of you who would like to schedule a family photo session, but the budget for professional photos just isn’t there right now, I will be holding very affordable “mini-sessions” at the end of October (Think Christmas cards! Think Christmas gifts for Grandma!) So be looking out for details about that! I’m very excited about it and I think you will be too.

And since no blog post is complete without a photo (in my opinion!) This oldie was from back when I photographed my project 52. I really miss that project! I had so much fun doing it. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, click the tag “52 weeks” and scroll through the photo a week that I took with me and my kids for a year. The following photo was from exactly a year ago, week 16. It didn’t make it as the pic of the week, but I loved it anyway!