laguna beach: toes in the sand

laguna beach: toes in the sand

i was able to escape some of the scorching heat and head into laguna beach for a shoot this week.

felt incredible to be by the water. and was so much fun chasing these 2 around.

their mother is a genius for scheduling photos at the end of summer. she's ahead of the game for holiday cards and is comforted knowing she won't stress about it as the chaos of the school year begins around her. 

 

here's just a little sneak peek of just some cute toes :)

hale family: just like family

hale family: just like family

this family has a special place in my heart.  

they are friends with my little brother and sister in-law. 

mike is a marine stationed at 29 palms. he and his wife met my brother and sister in law when they were all living in idaho and have been friends ever since.  i will always appreciate how they "took care" of my family when they lived away from us.  now that mike and chelsey are stationed here in california, we are able to return the favor.  

 

hale family, i have enjoyed our holidays and summer fun adventures with you cheers to many, many more!!

xoxo amanda

ps - chelsey, did you happen to notice how many pics that darn cat was in? he was everywhere. it was like "where's waldo?"!!  ;)

teper family: there is more than one way to create a family

there is more than one way to create a family.  adoption is one of the ways families are created.   adoption is the legal process that allows someone to become a parent of a child,even though they may not related by blood.  in reality, adoption is much,much more.

opening your heart and your home to a child is one of the most generous things anyone could ever do.  the teper family is hoping for the opportunity.  they are on the bumpy and often emotional roller coaster ride known as adoption.  they are opening themselves and their family up and hoping for a chance to expand their crew. 

being a parent is a self-less career.  parenting (good parenting) requires your full attention, full-time.  the demand of children can be all-consuming, but SO worth it.  being a parent is also one of the most amazing privileges you commit to.  as a parent you witness small miracles every day.

marisa told me about their decision to adopt.  she told me her family has to assemble a profile and package for prospective parents to look at.  the package needs to tell their story and express why they want to adopt a child.  pictures should be included in their packet.  we set a date, got her man and her son together at the park and shot some pictures.  

my wish is for the teper family to be selected for an adoption - soon.  my wish is for the prospective parent to see what a loving and warm environment their baby could be raised in.  these 3 have a strong bond and would be delighted to make their crew a family of 4.   
dave works hard to provide a good life for his family.  marisa is a full-time, hands-on mom who helps coach her son's baseball team.  cameron is a quiet boy, incredibly intelligent and kind.  he will be a terrific big brother. any child will be blessed to grow up in their home and be protected by their hearts. good luck to all of you this journey. xox aj

my boy turned 5

5 years old!

my boy turned 5 at the beginning of the month.  where has the time gone?  when he was a baby - and he was my first -  i used to sit and watch him all day.  my husband would come home from work and ask how my day was/ what did i do?  my answer: "i sat and stared at our son."  watching him was the best reality tv show there was.  and it still is.

his personality is interesting.  i love seeing how he is growing, changing and finding himself.  his journey is starting out in this big world and he has a long road ahead.  i pray that his father and i are teaching him the right tools, giving him enough strength and offering the love he needs to grow into a good man.  

this boy has traits and characteristics from both my husband and i. i am a little biased, but i think he is quite handsome. :)  he is smart. he is sweet. he is sensitive. he loves his mama and is a good big brother to his little sister.  don't get me wrong, they fight and bicker like the best of them, but that is part of the game when you have siblings.  that is WHY you have siblings, right?  to learn how to deal with people.  he is learning to deal - every day.  

doing his homework. he loves to do homework.  fingers crossed that doesn't change. 

nico and his cousin playing their video games. notice he cannot tear his eyes away from the screen even to have a quick photo taken.

in our house, birthdays are special.  they are special because of who and what we are celebrating.  my goal as a mother is to make sure my kiddos know i love them and am here to support them.  i use their birthdays as a way to show them how grateful we are for the day that they were born.

my husband believes it's important to show each other how special they are every day of the year - not just one day.  my husband and i also feel strongly that it is easy for children  to get a warped sense of what a birthday party is all about.  too often these days it is about the presents and material possessions.   like when i was growing up, we have an every-other-year rule in our home.  we do not host a huge party each time one of us celebrates a birthday.   last year was my son's turn to have a party and he invited a handful of his friends over for an afternoon of fun and games.  this  year he did not have huge, over-the-top celebration.  

we took cupcakes to school for his classmates and made little goodie bags with some treats for them.  he got to wear a birthday crown at school and be the line-leader (hey, that's a big deal at preschool.)

uncle brian enjoying some homemade pizza  - YUMMY!

we also invited our immediate family over for a fun night of homemade pizza making and wii video games.  my son was in heaven.  he was surrounded by those who love him and he got to play his favorite video game.  what more could a 5 year old want -right?  this also gave the rest of our family a chance to have an evening together.  that is always a good thing.

make a wish!

nico, i wish you a very happy birthday.  i hope you enjoyed your day and know that everyone who was here to celebrate with us loves you very much.  i am proud of you and what an amazing young man you are turning into.  

happy birthday, son.  i love you!! xoxo

Arabella is Turning 2!

arabella and her friend, olivia

one of my close friends asked me if i would be willing take some pictures of her daughter for her 2nd birthday.  can you  imagine what my response was? 

YES!

we had such a great time putting this shoot together.  my girlfriend knew she wanted to do an "olivia" theme so the pictures would coordinate with arabella's birthday party.  that was our jumping off point.

from the balloons to the cupcakes to the colors.  we had a great time and arabella thought she was getting an early birthday party prepared just for her.  well, she was!

the great thing about turning 2 is arabella is still considered a baby... but she is also getting into the "big girl" stage.  she has such a strong spirit.  this girl knows what she wants and can think for herself already.  i imagine her to be a very independent young lady when she grows up.  and that's going to be a good thing.

happy birthday, arabella!

arabella, i hope you have a wonderful party.  i am so glad i got to celebrate a little early with you and our friend, olivia.  thank you for sharing those yummy cupcakes with me.  it was a joy to spend the afternoon with you and your mommy!

i need to give a special shout-out to my wingman, sandra.  she helped us keep arabella entertained and as always was a huge help during the shoot.  thank you from the bottom of my heart.  

xox,aj

I am thankful for good neighbor-ship

my husband and i moved into our house about 8 years ago.  we were newly married - only a couple of weeks - and were the only house on the block without children.  that has since changed and a lot of the kiddos that used to be oh-so-small, are now oh-so-tall.  we have been blessed with wonderful neighbors.  someone up above was watching out for us when we made the decision to move into this neighborhood.  good neighbors can make all the difference in  how much you enjoy where you live.  we enjoy where we live. very much.

this is sammie.  sammie is getting ready to start high school in the fall.  her mom is not only my neighbor, but i consider her a good friend.  we'll call it a "neighbor-ship."  it goes far beyond borrowing a cup of sugar.  sammie, her mom and sisters help with babysitting my little people and we often have dinner at each other's homes.  sammie, in particular picks up our mail and feeds our furry critters whenever we go out of town. when i saw sammie dressed up for her "promotion" from middle school to high school, i thought  her mom would like some nice pictures to remember this special event.  (and maybe i'd like to get some practice with my new camera and photoshop.  so here's what we came up....

sammie is a swimmer.  she swims 6 days a week on a local team.  i predict she will be on the varsity swim team in high school and letter very quickly.  she is strong - inside and out.  this girl is good.  she has a kind heart and a great head on her shoulders.  i'm confident this comes from having a strong mother and 2 amazing big sisters as role models.

i remember how anxious i was to start high school: a new routine, new classes, meeting new friends, new experiences.  not to mention i felt like i was officially growing up when i could tell someone i was a freshman.  it was a title-thing, i guess.  sammie is officially growing up.  before she knows it she'll be picking out a prom dress and standing in line at the dmv for her driving permit.  this is an exciting time.  i wish sammie success in her next chapter.  i am grateful to have had the opportunity to watch her develop into the secure and beautiful woman i know she is going to become. 

potty training & the pacificier

my daughter is 2 1/2 years old.  she is sassy; independent yet very loving and sweet.  (gee, i wonder where she gets that from?)  she is growing up so fast.  sometimes, i swear she has grown another 2 inches overnight. this summer has brought some changes for her.  she is now sleeping in her toddler bed - she actually stays asleep in it all night and doesn't get out.  [that's HUGE, people!]  additionally, she is potty training in preparation for preschool next year.  unfortunately, she is still attached to her pacifier - aka: nee-nee.  whenever i start to have anxiety about her being attached to her nee-nee, my mother reminds me not to worry and that she won't be taking her nee-nee to prom.  right?  right.  right??  i hope not. even though i know she won't have that thing in her mouth when she takes her drivers ed. classes, i still get anxious when another mom makes a comment: "oh, YOU let her have THAT??"  or "oh, I NEVER let my child have a pacifier."  whatever.  this does not make me a horrible mother.
alas, i thought this summer would be a good time to take-on the process of potty training.  she seemed interested in the big girl potty, so why not?   of course we need to make this experience a fun one; we have potty parties,do potty dances, and make up silly potty songs too. 
we began the process of potty training at the end of may.  with the warm weather, i figured she would enjoy running around the house in her undies or simply nothing at all and this might help make for an easier transition to using the potty. we made a chart complete with princess stickers and hello kitty stamps for each time she took care of her business.  i was pleased with her progress and encouraged her along the way, offering goodies: candy, books, etc - whatever it takes to get the job done.
fast forward to this morning.  my daughter wakes up in such a happy mood. "good morning" she sings with the pacifier in her mouth.  "i love you, momma"  she says as she stretches her little arms up to give me a hug.  "hi baby" I smile down at her.  "did you sleep good?" I ask.  She shakes her sleepy head, yes.  "Let's go potty." I tell her.  so she runs into my bathroom and proceeds to take care of her business - with the nee-nee still clenched in her teeth.  i can tell she is still waking up because she just sits on the potty staring off into outer space.  every once in a while she lets out a soft yawn.
i make myself busy brushing my teeth and straightening up the bed sheets.  "momma, look!! i go pee pee!!"  she exclaims, jumping off the toilet.  this time she takes the nee-nee out of her mouth and uses it to point down at her business, as if to emphasize her achievement.  immediately i give lots of praise.  we shake our booty and do a little potty dance then laugh [anything to make it fun, remember?]  "come on, let's flush it down" i tell her.  she pops the pacifier back into her mouth and we proceed to wave to the pee pee as it swirls around and around the porcelain bowl.  "Buh-Bye Pee Pee!!" she squeals and before either of us can do anything the
nee-nee slips from between her lips, lands in the swirling toilet bowl and gets sucked down into the abyss.
it's quiet for a moment.  the only sound is of the water running to refill the toilet bowl.  but nothing is in the bowl.  no more pee pee. and no more nee-nee.  my daughter looks up at me with huge eyes.  her mouth still hangs open in disbelief.  then it happens.  her bottom lip starts to quiver and i can see the corners of her mouth turning down.  i, too am standing there with my mouth open but i start to laugh and place my hand over my smile.  in between giggles, i try to be sympathetic.  "what happened?" i ask her.  "did your nee-nee go buh-bye too?"  she shakes her head, yes while still staring down at the empty toilet bowl.  "it's ok, honey.  don't be sad."  i tell her,still giggling and laughing.  i try to think of a way to soothe my daughter but i have to admit, this is funny as all heck!  so how can i make it funny to her?  more importantly, a thought flashes into my head: how can i get her to "accidentally" flush the rest of those darn nee-nees down the toilet so we can be done with all of them??