Some favorites....

Remember when...

the bigger the cheeks, the better... it was fun to catch snowflakes on your nose and eyelashes...
tasting fresh picked strawberries was better than a bowl of ice cream... those long summer days filled with smiles and sun-kissed locks... bright-eyed and filled with curiousity, you faced the world ahead...
when you could jump in a foam pit and still make it out okay....
walking on your tippy-toes still required Momma to hold your hands...
"Gerr-ran-nemo" was your favorite word...

and climbing as high as the tree tops made you "king" of the jungle gym!

When "rubbing noses like the Eskimoses"
made you laugh until you got the hiccups...
you ran so fast that you got your kite to stay high in the sky...
you had a "you complete me" moment
and your world instantly became a better place...
and true happiness could be found on a swing....

whether swinging solo...

or with your best buddy. :)

The perfect day for a wedding...

Today I had the honor and pleasure of photographing a dear friend's wedding at no better a place than the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. The weather was perfect, the flowers were in bloom, it was the perfect day for Alicia and Ron to tie the knot!! :)

When Alicia called to ask if I would take part in their special day I hung up the phone with tears in my eyes. But what brought on even more tears was being there today and witnessing their beautiful ceremony between two amazing people who have an unconditional love for each other and an even stronger love for their family. Alicia & Ron's day was truly about them and their adorable son Davis, just as it should be. It was honest and sincere, and even had the staff at the Botanical Garden sniffling during their exchanging of vows.

The beautiful bride just moments before walking down the aisle...
you could just feel the "glow" about her.

Alicia playing peek-a-boo in the gardens,
she really let her personality shine through! :)

Davis giving Mommie some last minute advice..."Kiss him!"

Father and son, best buddies, Ron and Davis were all smiles!!

United as one...

Davis was the best lil' ringbearer!!

You could see the joy in his heart watching his parents tie the knot!

Davis was given his Great Grandmother's rosary beads.

Hand in hand...
Okay Mommie, now it is my turn to kiss the bride!

Smoooch!!

Alicia and Davis are two peas in a pod!

We thought surely one of them would have wound up in the fountain...

It's Official! Mr. and Mrs. L!!!!

Their day was filled with lots of laughter...

and even more smooches!!

Thank you Alicia & Ron for allowing me to share in your special day. You three were such fun to photograph!! :) Here is a little sneak peak of your pictures, now go enjoy that amazing honeymoon of yours and when you get back you can see the other 643!! :)

Vera Oh Vera!!

Vera Bradley Outlet Sale Comes to Atlanta!!

Thursday, September 13th, 8:45am - We're heading into the city for the big sale...ya think all these people are going there too??
9:30am - We finally find a parking spot, load up the stroller, and are heading into the sale....woohoooo!!! As you can see, the boys were just as excited as Momma was! :)
9:45am - We made it, we are in!!! Yes it was a 15 minute walk from our parking spot into the sale...this event is bigger than big!!!!
OMG - the even have VB table clothes and every worker in the place is sporting a super cute VB apron!!
The room is broken down by styles and then by patterns. As soon as you enter, you are given a 20 gallon pink garbage bag and a 4 page map of the convention center with a picture, name, and price of each and every item in the entire sale so that you can make your way through depending on the color balloon and the number.
Each table has big signs with pictures, names, prices on it too so if you're organized and know what you want, you can just zip right on through.
It was truly the most organized free-for-all I think I've ever seen!! :)
3 hours later and our pink garbage bag is now busting (literally) at the seams...the boys are eating snacks faster than I can pull out of the stroller, their shoes are off, I even smuggled in milk in a small cooler and the boys blankets in case they wanted to take a snooze, and the last hope DVD player (you'll notice strapped on to C's tray) is losing battery life with each minute that passes.....the pressure is on....time is running out....
Well the DVD battery has finally died, the snacks are "yucky" they tell me, and the toys aren't fun anymore....so what better to do with two toddlers at a VB Outlet sale than go "Cardboard Box Diving"!!!! Woohooo!!
Wait, where did C go??
Did that lady with the blue top just put him in her Hope Toile Garment Bag???
D! Quick! Jump in there to save your little brother!! Oh and could you hand that woman with the black top that Alpine Black Lunch Bag for $8.00, she's been looking for that for her sister in law for Christmas?? What a good helper all the women say while they ask him to reach down and get a few other bags for them!! LOL :)
Phew, C has resurfaced and is now apparently handing someone a Bermuda Blue Travel Organizer! They really are such good helpers, aren't they?
Oh gosh but now a different lady is trying to put D in a Citrus Satchel!
This place is crazy, these VB Lovin' women are out of control....hurry up boys and get back in the stroller, it's time we get out of here!!
Oh and a special thank you D for being okay with wearing a diaper so Momma wouldn't have to worry about finding a potty every 45 minutes while we were in there. Hope that wasn't too confusing for you little guy...but we had to go prepared for a shopping frenzy sans potty stops. :)
It's now 1:30pm and we're finally headed to the check out. Disney World style lines wrapped around a quarter of the convention center and moved pretty fast,
considering. Luckily we only had to wait for about 75 minutes before ringing out our purchases!! :) These poor shoppers had at least a 2 hour wait and the line was still growing!
Thank goodness we got out of there....time to head home for naps (for all three of us!) 3:30pm - Well it looks like we'll be napping in the car stuck on 85, this is the very spot where we sat for over an hour in the pouring down rain in the middle of the highway....nice...we LOVE Atlanta!! :)

Soooo...now you're probably wondering...what all did you buy?? Did you hit the $2000 per shopper limit? Details, details...pictures pictures!! As soon as I can finish downloading the pictures, I'll post some on here of the fabulously priced Vera purchases! Got some GREAT deals on SUPER cute stuff!! :)

Vera Oh Vera, please do come back to Atlanta next year!!!

Just 105 days left until....

the holidays?

Can it really be?

What happened to summer?

Where did this year go?

Forget about the growing list of presents and side dishes needing to be bought, prepared, and wrapped in the next few months...if you're like me, you're thinking...oh goodness - it's that time of year again when our children must keep their freshly pressed holiday outfits spot free while all looking and smiling for the camera for that one perfect, adorable, precious picture that will spread joy and grace mantels, holiday card holders, and refrigerators all around the world!!

The Annual Family Holiday Card!!!

Dun dun dun dun!!

So unlike last year when after 4 unsuccessful photo shoots, yes 4. One time D threw up all over his holiday sweater during the first 5 minutes of the shoot...NICE. Another time C had an accident and evidently his diaper wasn't leak proof (like the package said), so his holiday pants needed a good washing (and drying). The third time, D & C teamed up and decided that day wasn't a good day for pictures. Which lead us to the last attempt when we were on our way out the door to a holiday party and the boys were sitting on the front steps of the house waiting for us to finish loading the car when I happened to be putting a sweet potato casserole and my camera into the car and noticed a perfect opportunity to snap a picture or two....just 6 days before Christmas! Needless to say, between express shipping and addressing envelopes until 3am after too much eggnog at a holiday party one night - everyone (well almost everyone) got their holiday cards in time for Christmas morning with happy pictures of our children in clean holiday outfits! :)

So now you have the background of why this year we decided to start even earlier to try and get that one perfect photo to show all our dear family and friends what happy, healthy, pleasant, well dressed, perfect, little children we have! :) HA!

Though our boys did a great job of cooperating during those 20 minutes of ideal light right at sunset on the beach last Thursday, maybe next year we will just mail the crazy "out-takes" during the holiday photo sessions instead. It would be much easier and probably a bit more entertaining!! :) In fact, maybe I'll post some of them, let me look through the camera again.

Bet you have some great "outtake" shots too from over the years....dig 'em up - maybe if enough of us get together we can relieve some pressure this holiday season and change the "expectation" of the Dun dun dun dun Annual Family Holiday Card!! :)