The kids and I were out and about the other day, getting the rest of Zach’s shots for Kindergarten next week. His dr happens to be next to Goodwill and of course we had to shop around a bit! When I saw this car for $20 I had to snatch it up. I may or may not have panicked when I saw another mother put her little boy in the car and look at it lovingly. I walked straight up to the car and hovered. I think that probably wasn’t the most polite thing to do…but then she admitted he had two other cars at home…so then I didn’t feel so bad.

Lily is the only one tiny enough to fit in it, Abby is very distraught that she doesn’t fit at all!

If you want to incorporate this pedal car into our session, please contact me and let’s talk about it! I’m thinking a little boy wearing a pub cap and a tweed blazer, or a little girl in a yellow vintage dress…oh the ideas I have! I can’t wait to incorporate this into my nephew’s 1 year old session. I hope I can pull off my vision for him!

This past weekend my entire extended family went to Pismo Beach to honor my Grandma that passed away just a few months ago. She grew up in Pismo and we all gathered to have a funeral service and a family reunion. I spent time with family members that before this weekend, were strangers. I remember when some of them were born and hadn’t seen them since…and now they are taller than me :)

It was a quick weekend, I felt like we needed more time. One moment that I will always remember is when us granddaughters came together with our Moms and fingered through Grandma’s jewelry. She didn’t wear very much, and what she had was modest and I’m glad to have chosen just a few small pieces that I can remember her by. A small heart to wear on a chain around my neck, it looks like a piece of gold Grandma may have panned for on one of her camping trips. A small shape of Baja Mexico to be worn as a necklace, Grandma & Grandpa would take their motor home and travel to Mexico quite often. She was always so supportive of my husband and I’s call to Mexico.

It all felt very eerily familiar since it just feels like yesterday that we did the same thing with my Grandma B’s jewelry. I lost both my Grandma’s within a year of each other…more than that my Mom lost both her mom’s within a year of each other. That is incomprehensible. In my reality…my Mom will always be with me.

To honor my Grandma, houses were rented on the beach, tons of food was brought and we all tried to laugh as much as possible. She wanted us to do that, and she would have loved to have been there. I am truly thankful for the weekend we all had together.

As soon as we pulled up to the driveway, something in me changed. It is the beach. It is the sun and the sand. I made my husband promise that we would live on the beach one day. I think more and more that we go there, he realizes how important it is to me. I’m not sure why the Lord has called me the middle of California and not the ocean’s edge, but one day I know I will get there.

On Sunday she turned 7…Seven…Siete…anyway I think about it I am shocked. I want to keep her as young as possible so I love that this year she wanted baby dolls and Barbie and Disney princesses. Belle is her favorite right now. Belle was my favorite. Us brunettes stick together.

My first baby girl is 7 and my last baby girl is now potty trained…oh yeah…more on that later!! It is all happening very fast.

We went out over the weekend, just our little family of 5 to Old Sacramento. We walked around, mommy took pictures, we ate ice cream, chocolate dipped oreos and rice crispy treats with sprinkles on them. Daddy pointed out the beautiful river boat where he proposed to Mommy, Abby said, “Oh I remember that story!” She loves to hear me tell it.

On Sunday we had a lovely birthday party with close family. We all went around and spoke words of life into her, told her how much we loved her and what she meant to us. I told her she is important to me because she made me a mommy for the first time, and I love being a mommy. She knows that. Out of the blue the other day she says to me, “you love being a mommy don’t you.” It wasn’t a question, she knew what she was saying. I stopped whatever I was doing and looked her in the eyes, “Yes Abby, I love being a mommy…I love being *your* Mommy”.

Love you Abs…

Tomorrow (the 1st) I turn 29. I remember thinking back when I was little, remembering how big I thought my own Mom was. She was So Old. Actually…she was my age. I’m not old at all, not even close. Yes, this being my last year of my 20s makes me stop and reevaluate a bit, or maybe a lot. I have a year to accomplish what I thought I would be doing when I turned 30. Good Luck! I’m so glad I didn’t stick to the plan…

I gave Abby a haircut. She looks so big and a bit sassy now. I tell her she is one of my best friends, she replies, “I know.”

I’m photographing a vow renewal tomorrow and so I decided to rent one of my dream lenses just for the occasion.  Jeremy dreams about guitars…I dream about pieces of glass :) But since this particular one costs more than all my other lenses combined…it hasn’t been on the priority list of things to purchase :)

I’ve been taking photos like mad with it though! Abby of course is my willing model. She is just lovely.

ps. My birthday is in just over a week. I’m entering the last year of my 20’s. I think that calls for an extra special birthday present right??!! :) :)

So I’ve been nominated for the 2nd time for Sacramento’s KCRA A list of photographers. I actually didn’t realize I was nominated until some awesome friends on Facebook started voting for me! The contest only runs for another couple days, so if you can, give me a vote and help me place in the top 5!

Abby & I had some time together a couple days ago, just in our backyard right before bedtime. The light is beautiful at that time and she was a very willing model. Love that girl so much. She lost another tooth the other night. She declared she wanted “ten bucks” from the tooth fairy :)

sacramento child photographer, sacramento family photographer, sacramento birth photographer

My sister is celebrating her first Mother’s Day. One of my best friends in the world had a new baby girl yesterday, giving her son a little sister. My thoughts turn to my mother-in-law who raised two boys to be strong independent men who love their families and love God with all their hearts…what a feat. I haven’t celebrated too many Mother’s days, but sometimes it feels like being a mom is old hat. Like “I’ve got this”. Then some days I feel like I don’t have it at all.

Then I think of my own Mom, who seriously *has* been a mom for a very long time. She has put up with a lot of our schemes and tricks, there being 5 of us to take care of. She has endured quite a bit of loss, in a natural sense and I would imagine great loss as well when us kids don’t go down the path that she prayed for us to go down, which believe it or not has happened quite a bit with us kids. This is also her first Mother’s day that she doesn’t have her Mom to celebrate with. That makes me sad.

I don’t know half of what my Mom knows. But what I do know, is that being a mom is really really hard. Can I put a few more reallys in there? Sometimes I can’t even think about my kids, can’t even put their little faces in my brain or the love I have for them will literally hurt so much I can’t breathe.

I never imagined that my life would be given up for three tiny little beings…but it has been given up, every day I give it up again in may different ways…

Changing diaper after diaper
Kissing bloody knees
Searching for precious blankies and lost pacifiers at 4am
Watching them fall sleep
Praying for the nightmares to be washed away
Cooking
Cleaning
Giving snacks
Giving up my favorite things
Pretending I don’t want my last piece of garlic bread so they can have it
Snuggling them to sleep when I know I should allow them to do learn how to sleep on their own
Allowing her to put off doing her homework so I can just listen to her talk
Folding tiny sock after tiny shirt after tiny pairs of undies with buzz lightyear on them or the days of the week
Homeschooling them or making the heart wrenching decision to
Send them to school
Giving up a career
Giving up sleep
Giving up….everything
…and I love it. Every last second of it.

His cheeks are my favorite. They’re squishy and round and red and very kissable. He’s already 7 months old! This is my absolute favorite age to photograph. Anything makes him laugh, he’s sitting but can’t crawl away from me…and something about the camera is so crazy interesting that he stares right in it!

Hopefully we will get to plan a real family session with his mommy & daddy this summer. He looks *exactly* like his dad (minus the extreme amount of baby chub!)

I’ve been running on full speed the past week. I’m just about ready to launch my new website. I am so excited! It is so much more “Amy”. I also just joined a wonderful group of photographers on Pinkletoes‘ business site (Pinkletoes 4 Photographers). Already it is opening a world of information to me and I know it will help push my business where I know it needs to go. On top of that, husband and I are leaving for a much needed vacation (celebrating our anniversary a bit early!) I’m looking forward to burying my toes in the sand and sipping…uh…a Coke on the beach :)

Amy Schuff Photography will be closed the 18th to the 28th. Feel free to email while I’m gone, I’ll respond to you when I get back!

Oh how I will miss my cheeky little princess while I’m gone!!

Day 16/28:  I think I’m going to set up a studio in my sunroom. Not a working one, (my county says I can’t hold sessions in my home) but a natural light studio for my personal photos. Hang some seamless paper from the ceiling…wow that would be fun!

This was taken in my living room, large window to her right, curtains as a background and husband holding the fan to blow her beautiful hair. We had never used the fan before, I will definitely be using it again!

She’s got the smile down :)