Black and White Wednesday - "Beauty"

"It's beauty that captures your attention; personality that captures your heart."
~Author Unknown~


"Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart."
~Kahlil Gibran~

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Easter!
We made a quick trip up to Cape Cod for the holiday. We had a great time, although the weather was cold and rainy and did not allow us to take any walks along the beach, but we did get to spend time with our family......which is what matters most.

Unfortunately, late Sunday night after we arrived back home, Nick and I got violently ill....we were not sure what was going on at first, but we are pretty positive it was food poisoning. Something I hope we never get again. We are just now starting to feel human again.

I didn't take very many photos on Easter Sunday because we had to leave for the long ride home shortly after mass was over, but I promise as soon as I have some time, I will get a few posted......the girls looked adorable in the matching dresses.

I happened to take these photos of Sarah last week just before we left...... they might my favorite photos of her ever. Her expressions are classic Sarah.....so natural..so her.... Her beauty definitely shines from within.

Black and White Wednesday - "First Trip to the Park"

She was reluctant to leave the safe arms of her big brother.


Then she watched her sister in action and decided it was time to give some of these things a whirl.


I think she may have had second thoughts once she was flying through the air.


In a matter of minutes that unsure expression left her face......


and the only thing we saw for the rest of the afternoon, was that big beautiful grin!


I have been staring at these pictures for the last two weeks and I cannot help but smile each and every time I look at them. I never tire of seeing the three of them together and I can't imagine life as anything less than a family of five.

Reagan is still experiencing so many new things.....everyday is an adventure with her and she brings new life and love to our family. It's been six months since this child was placed into my arms and I still pinch myself on a daily basis to make sure I am not dreaming.

People in the adoption community have always said "you will get the child that was meant to be with your family" and I was never so sure I totally believed it....... but now I most certainly do!

Sunday Snapshot - "The Pink Computer"

This week Reagan started doing the most adorable thing and I wanted to document it:)


I think by now, most of you that read our blog know that both Pat and I have jobs that allow us to work from home a lot of the time. We both have days that we need to go into our corporate offices or go out on the road to see clients, but our main offices are here in our home.

As you can imagine, this definitely has it's perks..... as in we have a lot of flexibility in our schedules and ultimately, we get to spend more time with the kids.

We have settled into a routine that really works for us. I usually take Nick to school each morning while Pat stays at home and starts his workday while feeding the girls breakfast and getting them dressed and ready to start their day.

Reagan is our early riser, so she is usually up with first while Sarah(AKA: The night owl)is still sleeping.


Usually by the time Pat pours himself a cup of coffee and gets Reagan into her highchair to feed her breakfast, his phone is already "buzzing" and emails are pouring in, so he will bring his laptop to the kitchen table and begin to work simultaneously. I know, not exactly the way you want to enjoy breakfast, but it is all part of juggling a job that lets you work from home and being a Dad at the same time. Multi-tasking at it's best.


Well, last week after Reagan was done with her breakfast, Pat cleaned her up and off she went to play when all of a sudden he sees her walking towards him carrying Sarah's pink computer.

She came up to him and then put the computer on the table next to his, scooted the chair back and tried to climb up.


She stood there in the chair for about 20 minutes mimicking her Daddy's every move....... computer frustration and all. Gosh, this photo cracks me up!

I was not right there to witness when she first did this, but Pat said he was laughing so hard and couldn't believe that she went to Sarah's toy box to dig out the computer. She obviously knew what she wanted to do and where to go the get it.

As the week has progressed, she has continued to do it each day, so yesterday after breakfast, I took some pictures of her and the pink computer!

It looks like she wants to start working like Mommy and Daddy.

Next week will be 6 months that Reagan has been home and I plan to do an update to ahare everything that she is doing at this point. We have seen some real changes in her these last two weeks. Her speech is coming along slowly, but her receptive language is unbelievable. She understands everything we are saying to her which is really great. She has been mobile for awhile, but she is becoming incredibly agile and has started to dance(which is hysterical. I need to get it on vidoe) and climb......as you will see when I post the park pictures.....WEDNESDAY FOR SURE!

Happy Sunday to all.
I hope you are enjoying some Spring weather.
It looks like the rain has finally move out of here:)

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The Girls Got Their First Real Gig!

A little change in the line up today. I originally said I was going to post the park pictures from Saturday, but the truth is I have not even had a minute to go through them yet.

About two months ago I woke up to an email from one of the owners of Izzy and Ivy Designs. They make fantastic patterns for the most adorable girls clothes, hats, and handbags! If you sew, you must check them out. Click HERE to visit their website.

In the email, she asked me if I would be intersted in letting the girls model some of their new designs and then she wanted me to photograph them so that the photos could be used for their packaging and any of their print ads in magazines, etc. It only took me about two minutes to respond and of course I said "YES". How could I not?

Shasta and I spoke back and forth a few times about what they needed. She said that everything had to be full body shots so that they could see the entire dress and both of the girls had to be standing up, they could not be sitting. Sounds pretty easy right?

She went to work making dresses that would fit the girls and sent me a package a few weeks ago. I was so super excited when they arrived, but I was a tad nervous.......

They were sundresses and we were still wearing winter coats up until last week. I called Shasta and asked how quickly she needed the photos and she said....."don't worry, you have time. Just hold the dresses and when you have good weather, take the girls outside and get the photos".


This weekend we had some really nice weather, but it was still only 60 degrees. I sent Shasta an email and said.... still not warm enough for the dresses. She said, okay, but you know my deadline is a week from Wednesday?

I felt a knot in my stomach......


Immediately I turned to the weather forecast for the next week and saw that there was only one day that there was a good possiblitly that the girls would not freeze in sleeveless dresses outside.


Monday it was most likely going to hit 80 Degrees.
Only one slight problem.... I had to work.


Thank goodness for longer days and more light. I picked the girls up from the babysitter's as soon as I was done with work.


Our babysitter was so helpful and had the girls all ready to go and her daughter even agreed to come along with me to help! I brought the dresses and hair accessories and we all headed to the local park.


I needed to go somewhere close and I just needed to have some trees or flowers or something green in the photos. No time to think about a fancy location, this was going to have to be quick and easy.


As luck would have it, the bluebells were just starting to pop!!


It was threatening rain and I knew it was going to be a race against the clock. The wind was not working in our favor(as you can tell by the flying hair), but I had no choice, It was now or never.


I have never felt so stressed about a photoshoot because I wanted everything to be just so, and it wasn't.


Shasta kept telling me not to worry. She said, "Just take the pictures. We don't need the perfect portrait. We want real life."


Well, Real Life is exactly what she got!!

We spent a little more than 30 minutes out in the field and each of the girls wore two dresses. As soon as were done, we headed for home. I got dinner started for the kids and set up my camera to download.....saying a small prayer that I got enough usable shots for her.

After everyone went to bed on Monday night, I was glued to my computer until 1am narrowing down the selection and editing photos so I could get them off to Shasta right away and ultimately, make the deadline.

I couldn't help but share the photos here.... in the end, I think they turned out to be really cute!!

They are going to print soon and we CAN'T WAIT to see the final product! I know she is only going to use the full body shots, but I had to sneak in a few close ups too:)

Shasta must have been pretty pleased with the photos because she has already asked me to shoot a new hat and dress. Looks like this might be the beginning of another fun little side job for me.....and the girls!

We Love Rita's

FINALLY.... we had weather warm enough that we did not have to bundle up in our winter coats to go outside. After Reagan took her nap, I promised the kids that we would go to the playground so they could run around and burn off some energy and get some much needed fresh air. I also sweetened the adventure by promising a stop at Rita's Italian Ice on the way home fo the first Italian Ice or Gelati of the season.


Here is Reagan going in for her first taste and Sarah so proudly holding up her Gelati covered in multi-colored sprinkles.....HER FAVORITE! Can you tell by the big smile on her face how happy she was to be there?


Looks like we have another Rita's fan on our hands. Reagan all but tackled Nick for his cone while I was at the conter waiting for ours. She shared with me.


Early in the morning while her sister and brother were sleeping, Reagan made a call to the weatherman to put in a request for some SPRING WEATHER. Our girl must have some clout, because he certainly delivered:)

It has been a beautiful weekend and tomorrow we are going to hit 80 Degrees! I am SO EXCITED.... we might be able to put away those winter clothes once and for all.

Hopefully everyone is also enjoying their weekend. I will post the pictures from the park for Black and White Wednesday. Not only did Reagan experience her first Italian Ice, she also had her first ride on the swing.
More to come soon!
~Happy Sunday~

To see more Sunday Snapshots, click the "Sunday Snapshot" button below. While you are there, be sure to check out Stefanie's exciting fundraiser to help bring Poppy and Esther home from China.

Confessions of a Shopaholic

Reagan likes to come into my office with me when I am working and one of her favorite things to do is "organize" the books on the shelves.


After she is done "organizing", she picks a book and sits down to "read".
Day after day, week after week, she chooses the same book... "Confessions of a Shopaholic". We all laugh and wonder if this is a sign of years to come. I am not sure what it is.....maybe it is the pink cover, but for some reason she is drawn to this book.

I am cheating today because I don't have a BW Photo ready..... Reagan is not the only one that has been hitting the books..... I have been hitting them hard the last two weeks and have spent many hours in my office behind closed doors.

My photography classes started last week and they are off to a FANTASTIC start. Everyone has been wonderful and is so excited to learn and grasp all the concepts that I am teaching.

I am spending lots of extra time tending to everyone's questions and often doing some extra research to prepare class outlines, diagrams, and assignments. If you know me, you know I don't do anything halfway.... In a nutshell, I have put my heart and soul into this project and I want it to be very successful and I want everyone to walk away feeling as though they learned a lot.

In addition to conducting the actual classes twice a week, I started a private FB Group for everyone participating in the class so that we can share our photos and have a place to have discussions and post questions and answers for all to see. It is all really working out so well and we continue to learn all week long:)

Even though I am the one teaching others, they are essentially pushing me to learn more myself. Funny how that happens.... but I guess that is how we all continue to grow!

Sorry I have been totally MIA again, there are just not enough hours in the day to do everything....Superwoman, I am NOT! Unfortunately, blogging has kind of been put on the back burner these last few weeks. Things will calm down here shortly and I hope to be back to blog visiting. I miss checking in on everyone and I miss the photo inspiration. I'll be around soon..... I promise.

Have a great Wednesday!

Boys, Barbies, and Some Really Funny Faces

The little ones make a fierce foursome....and Nick is their fearless leader! The boys really look up to him and as soon as they walked in the door on Sunday, they begged Nick to bring down his old lego sets and help them build lego cars at the kitchen table. Nick being the goodt kid that he is, sat there for an hour buidling cars with all of them and they loved it.

Reagan was taking a nap when my nephews first arrived, but once she woke up, she wasted no time jumping right into the mix.

After lego buidling, it was Princess Puzzles, My Little Ponies, and Barbie's. I think Ashton and Aidan enjoyed playing with the Ponies and Barbies's more than the girls did.

The visit ended with my nephew Aidan melting down over the Barbie that Sarah was playing with. He wanted to take her home so he could brush her hair and Sarah was not giving up her favorite doll, so the waterworks began.

My Mom and I were trying to hide the giggles. The look on all of their faces when he began to cry was priceless. The the thought of this rough and tough little guy getting so upset over a Barbie Doll was so comical to us.

We told him we would buy him his own Barbie for his bday and then he could brush her hair whenever he wanted. I don't think his Dad will be too happy with us, but it certainly stopped the tears.

Something tells me that last photo might be one that makes it's appearance some day when Aidan is least expecting it and his Mom will embarrass him with the story behind it. A totally priceless moment caught by the camera!

The boys are coming over again this Sunday and I am thinking we might need to hit the Barbie aisle at Target before they arrive:)