Recent Cuteness

Just a couple pages from some cute events in our lives

Weddings

It occurs to me that I have not posted my latest work. I have been fortunate to have a fairly steady stream of work this year. Nothing huge by any means but I have probably shot at least one thing a month. I think that is still pretty good for doing absolutely no work to promote myself. I have done two weddings this summer. Although by far I couldn't tell you why anyone on the planet would get married in Vegas in August.

I shot by brother in law's wedding in June.And I shot a wedding for a son of a lady in my ward. Here are some of my favorites.

PAUL AND KAREE GRAF-JUNE 2009

MY FAVORITE ARTSY SHOT

MY PERSONAL FAVORITE OF THE TWO OF THEM

FRANKLY IT IS A PHOTOSHOP MIRACLE THAT THIS PICTURE LOOKS SO AMAZING. THE SUN WAS SO BRIGHT AND THE SHADOWS ACROSS HER FACE WERE JUST AWFUL. THANK YOU PHOTOSHOP FOR BRINGING OUT THE TRUE BEAUTY OF THIS SHOT! ISN'T SHE STUNNING?

ADAM AND ALICIA WALTERS- AUGUST 2009

THIS IDEA CAME TO ME THE NIGHT BEFORE IN A SLEEPFUL STATE OR DREAM NOT SURE. BUT IT TURNED OUT AWESOME EH?

STILL NEEDS A LITTLE WORK I THINK, BUT THIS LONE CLOUD SHOWED UP AT THE EXACT MOMENT WE NEEDED IT AS WE HIT THE FRONT OF THE TEMPLE. AWESOME!

Us just chillin

Nothing super exciting happening around here. Just praying for the heat to end soon. So thought I would entertain you all with some funny Audrey stories over the last little while and updates. Funny stories first.

Yesterday Audrey was naked in a diaper most of the morning and at one point reached behind her back and slid her hand into her diaper. Then out came the hand pretty much covered in poop. EW!!! So gross.

Today I walked into the dining room because I was headed in there to do some sewing. And there sat Audrey perched almost on top of the piano. She had climbed up onto the level above the keys and was standing there kind of holding on looking at the family tree mom has sitting there. HAHA. It was so funny to look over and see this little girl that is not really big enough that you notice her right away, but definitely out of place on the furniture. She looked a little sheepish and thankfully didn’t try to get down herself. I think I got there pretty soon after she had gotten herself up there so I don’t know if she would have tried to climb back down or what. I guess it is pretty straightforward steps kind of. But it could have been bad if she had fallen.

I sometimes let Audrey play in her crib for a while after she wakes up....ok every day pretty much. It is her her time. Well yesterday she was playing and then I heard her crying. I thought for sure she had finally learned how to climb out of her crib and fallen or something awful. NO no, she had been twirling and dancing in her bed and had just fallen over and bonked her head on the side of the crib. She had thrown everything out onto the floor to make room for her escapades and was having a grand ol' time. I even left her in there while I searched for the camera to video it and she kept on dancing. Not only was she dancing and twirling, she was singing to herself. And it was no little one note here or there. She drawled on and on, singing a whole baby talk song to herself. It was quite cute!

Audrey loves to sing songs and will make me sing them over and over again. She has little things she does for each song to tell me that is the one she wants.

She has learned to jump off the ground. Normally not something you think actively about teaching your child....But I guess they have to learn it all somehow

I usually sing primary song to Audrey as I put her to bed. She now knows the tune to I am a child of God and will sing with me for at least the chorus if not more. It is very hard not to laugh at how cute her little voice sounds.

Audrey knows and can say and identify all of her colors. We are working on numbers and the alphabet now. She is pretty good at it. Is this normal or is she ahead of her time? Anyone know? In fact, when she eats fruit loops (which she loves) she will hold them all up to make sure she is getting the right color before she will put it in her mouth! Yes baby, it's yellow!!! She does this with yogurt and things too, she needs me to confirm it's identification before she will put it in her mouth. Very inconvenient with things that have a tendency to fall off the spoon!

Audrey is getting to be a pro at feeding herself. yesterday she wolfed down oatmeal so fast I was almost worried. It is still best to be clothes free for these events however or, we have to change. She doesn't always understand the whole, "keep the spoon level Audrey" instruction quite yet.

MY NEWEST CUTE(KIND OF) CRAFTY PROJECT-DIAPER CARRIER. I STILL NEED TO ADD A SUPER CUTE BIG BUTTON TO IT THOUGH

MY CUTE GIRL READING WITH HER FAMILY

AUDREY LOVIN ON SOME NOODLES

HOPE THIS MEANS SHE WILL BE SMART!

THIS IS ACTUALLY HOW SHE SAYS "TWO" BUT IT LOOKS MORE LIKE SHE IS GIVING ATTITUDE TO THE CAMERA! :)

Random

Found this picture randomly as I was downloading an old card. I shot this as a total test shot with my finger reacting to the first light I saw. Sorry it isn't great composition hence it being through the window and there being light in the background. I never managed to catch another bolt the rest of the night. Crazy huh?




These are just a few cute ones of my little one with the new wide angle lens I got. Not sure if it is as wide as I would like, especially for landscapes....but we are testing out on a wedding tomorrow! That should be a good tell!

You like the nice bruise she gave herself by headbutting her dad? I don't know where she gets it!

Graf Reunion

We had our second annual (kind of- we actually missed last year) Graf reunion at our cabin. We go just for the weekend and yes all 23 of us sleep in our little 1400 sq foot cabin. SHEESH! right?

Actually this year we were pretty Graf light. Greg and Andrea couldn't afford to do another cross country trip and at the last minute all of Lauralyn's kids got like puking sick!!! Yuck thanks for staying away! HEHE.

We did still manage to have lots of fun and lots of people there with two dogs. We spent one day totally inside reveling in the fact that we didn't have to have an agenda. And then one day mostly outside seeing the greatness of nature where he heard comments from Josh's "whimpy city kids" like, "this hike is so hard!" It was decided that we need to get those kids out more! We had a good time and don't think we drove each other too crazy. Although I am sure in coming years we will definitely need to work out other accommodations!

Here are just a few fun ones. I don't have all the pics yet from everyone.

BY THE WAY: THIS IS WHAT YOU GET WHEN I DON'T DO SCRAPBOOK PAGES.....WAY TOO MANY PICTURES TO DOWNLOAD!

PEEK-A-BOO

BUNCH OF SHOW-OFFS

ONLY SAM HIKES IN SANDALS

THEIR "PUPPY"

NEVER BE AFRAID TO GET UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH YOUR KIDS :)

PLAYING TABOO OUT IN THE NICE WEATHER

SORRY THIS IS SIDEWAYS. aUDREY AND ANDREW MAKING A MESS WITH THE BUBBLES.

ISN'T THAT LOVE?

I JUST LOVE THIS ONE OF THE TWO OF THEM

WE FOUND THIS GREAT SPOT TO HANG OUT FOR A WHILE

BEST LOOKING KIDS IN TOWN ON THE HIKE TO CASCADE FALLS

THE BEST OF THE BUNCH CONSIDERING I WAS HOLDING MY MASSIVE SLR CAMERA AT ARMS LENGTH!

PHOTO TIP: SHOOT WITHOUT LOOKING IN THE VIEW FINDER. THIS SHOT WAS THROUGH SOME GRASS AND TAKEN FROM THE GROUND. NOT SO OFTEN YOU GET PICS LIKE THIS OTHERWISE. TRY IT.....AND SHOOT A TON!

Bedding Done!

Ok so after about 20 trips to Joann's I am finally finished with the baby's (still unnamed) crib bedding. I saved like $40 at least by making a ton of different trips and using coupons every time. So I guess I win. Good thing we have a Joanns close to us eh?

I will say that if you hate it you better NOT tell me that you do. I stress over things like this. I walked down every isle three times at Joann's and two other fabric stores convinced that I am missing out on some of the great fabric finds in the world. Where do people that make cutsey silly mormon crafts get their dang awesome fabric? Is there some secret network that I am not privy to? And if you people are paying $10 a yard then forget it...That is ridiculous. What a rip off. I am gonna start skinning my own sheep soon I swear! So I finally stumbled upon these choices. I only hope that this baby is as clean as Audrey has been, otherwise I might be buying lots of new fabric for sheets!!!

I PUT THE BEDDING ON AUDREY'S CRIB TO TEST IT OUT. OF COURSE SHE WENT NUTS. SHE INSISTED ON TRYING IT OUT. SHE LOVED IT AND WHEN I ASKED HER IF SHE WANTED TO GO UPSTAIRS SHE SAID NO....SO I LEFT HER THERE...FOR 20 MINUTES JUST PLAYING...THEN IT WAS ACTUALLY HER BEDTIME, SO SHE GOT TO CHRISTEN THE SHEETS...SORRY BABY TO COME, SHE BEAT YOU TO IT!

I MADE MY BUMPERS PUFFY THIS TIME. i THINK THEY TURNED OUT CUTE...EXCEPT I DID NOT TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THAT THEY WOULD TAKE UP MORE SPACE....SO THEY ARE A LITTLE JAMMED IN THERE. I MIGHT NOT EVEN PUT THE BACK ONE ON SEEING AS IT IS SOLID BACK ANYWAY! HAHA

JUST A CUTE ONE OF HER DANCING WITH HER BABY!

Responsible Mama

So I got this idea from a friends blog....thought it was cute.

Some people for some reason have this really ridiculous idea about me. They think I actually have my act all put together. I am so glad that I apparently have the world fooled big time....but shhh don't tell anyone!

If I were less perfect in my life I would probably have entire days where I did nothing but watch Audrey play and watch HGTV and Food network pretty much all day long. Although, honestly that would mean that I was secretly getting ideas of how to expand my ever increasing vastness of talents and skills ending up with 15 new recipes to try in a week, so then I could still be blamed for working too hard. Sheesh good thing I don't have to worry about this problem!

I am definitely not the kind of person to forget about my husband and make food for myself on a regular basis and not even ask if he wanted anything right then!

If I were way less patient in my life I would get really annoyed at people that refuse to actually contact people in an age where that is the most important thing according to consumer marketing. I would definitly hate Wells Fargo people for not actually taking the time to email our preapproval letter to the right people for three weeks. It is sure a good thing I totally have the patience thing under wraps so that I don't have to deal with such negetive feelings as these.

I am defintely not a slob enough to let huge cobwebs build up in the corners of my windows before I notice and actually take the time to hold a vacum up there and get rid of them. I mean come on who forces the poor people in thier home to live like that. Definitely not me that would be mean and cruel and unmentionable

I would never procrastinate something like making the invitations I need to design for my calling in relief society till the day they need to be passed out. That would look really bad and kind of make me unreliable. Kind of like thos Wells Fargo people I talked about earlier. WOW, good thing I am not like that....then I might have to hate myself too! And I would definitely never forget to burn a cd of images for a client....that would be unthinkable, unprofessional, and foolish!!

And lastly, I am so glad I am the kind of person that has my emotional state totally in control. I mean how many women can say that truthfully? And that I am pregnant to boot. I feel so lucky to be the only woman in the world that never overeacts or makes the people around her miserable. If I weren't then people living with me might have a very large amount of negetive thoughts thrown their way for no apparent reason. Sheesh, whew, I am so glad I am so on top of my life.



HAHA Hoped you enjoyed the confessions of a highly not perfect woman!

Help??

I have a hunch that Audrey maybe hyper extended her knee yesterday. She was running off somewhere and stepped a little far out of her normal step and as I watched her it just looked wrong. She immediately fell to the ground of course crying. Well she got up she was wobbly and I was worried she did something worse because she crumpled when she stepped on her leg. Although for the next couple of hours I had her mostly sit down and take it easy and reminded her to take it slow. She cried in pain a couple of times when she stepped too hard or something but by that evening she seemed to be fine.

Today she shows no signs of it even hurting? Anyone think I should be overly concerned? Should I take her in to a doctor just in case? Just wondering what you all thought?