Happy Halloween

After some major confusion as to whether we would be trick-or-treating with Hilliard or Columbus, our development settled on Hilliard, which was tonight. So, out we went. Emma had so much fun and looked SO cute as a monarch butterfly. Her tutu totally completed the outfit and came out so good! She kept saying, "Mommy, you made this for me." Aww....

Anyway, she came home with a ton of loot, and we passed out all of our candy to the little ghosts and goblins. Woohoo!

My New Schedule

Shawn got a new job about a month ago...YAY for him :) The one downside to his new job (besides him working an insane number of hours) is that he has to be at work at 5am. This poses a problem because I don't get home from work until 8am most days. As much as Miss Carrie loves Emma...not enough to watch her at 4:30am ;)

So, I started working every Friday and Saturday night and one night during the week from 3am-3pm. There are pluses and minuses to this schedule. The big minus is not getting to spend time with my family (read: Husband) on the weekend. The one thing I am loving about this schedule is getting to stay home the entire week with my little punky. I am able to schedule photo shoots during the week with this schedule too.

I am trying to look at the positives, because when I think about working every weekend...I get depressed. Gotta try to be a glass half full kinda girl.

A Halloween Surprise

So, I've been reading a photography board for a while now...and there was a discussion about how to make tutus for photo shoots, etc. So, I made one for Emma's halloween costume. It's orange to match her butterfly wings...and it's so cute! I'm pretty proud of myself :)

Pictures to come on Thursday!

Halloween Party

Emma got invited to a Halloween party by one of her little friend's from preschool. I had to work Friday and Saturday night, so I couldn't take her. Daddy took her and she had SO much fun! I can't post any more pics from the party because there are other kids in them...I had to crop out her "best buddy" from this picture. At the party they had a parade of all the kids, a group picture, a haunted house, homemade donuts, and apple cider! She had a blast.

Deep Sea Diving

Boy, is Emma going to kill me for this post in a few years :) She's in the bathtub right now as I type this. In these pics, she was "deep sea diving." The toy net was her scuba mask. It was hilarious! And, she played like this for a long time. Her creativity and imagination truly amaze and inspire me. I wish I still had that in me.

Homestead Harvest

Last Sunday we went to Homestead Park for their annual Homestead Harvest. Emma had so much fun. They had a petting zoo, pony rides, and she got to pick pumpkins and decorate them. There were also some Norwich Township Firemen there with their firetruck. The kids got to take turns sitting in the front and the back of the engine. The firemen were super nice and Emma thought it was SO cool. It was a HOT day, and Emma needed a nap, so we didn't stay long, but she sure had fun while we were there. Enjoy the pics from the day...and our googly eyed pumpkins!

A Little Piece of Sunshine

I called Shawn on my way home from work this morning and he told me about a conversation that he had with Emma this morning.

Emma: Daddy, it's not morning time.
Daddy: It is morning time, it's just still dark outside right now. It's still early.

*Sun starts to peek over the horizon*

Emma: Look Daddy, it's a little piece of sunshine!

How that melted my heart this morning and made me so miss my little Punky! It is moments like these that make you realize how precious this time is when your kids are little. Emma gets so excited in the little things in life that we take for granted. So, the next time you see the sun rise, enjoy your little piece of sunshine.

A Better Day

Emma had a good day at preschool today!!!! We have been talking the past 3 days about what she was going to do at preschool drop off today. She was going to go in to her classroom, hang up her stuff, turn her namecard over, sit at her table, and kiss Mommy goodbye. And...no crying! We talked about it in the car today on the way to school. And, we had success! Then, her teachers started cheering for her. So, now we see what she does on Monday.

Another bad day at preschool...and a photo shoot

Well, on Monday we had a horrible preschool drop off once again. Emma was crying and would not go in her classroom. I am at my wits ened. We had a long conversation with her again Monday night. So, we'll see if that helps. She did not have preschool yesterday because they were supposed to have a field trip to the farm (which got rained out). We'll see how she does tomorrow.

Tuesday, after I picked Emma up from Miss Carrie's, we headed over to Homestead to take a few pics. She was less than cooperative. She doesn't really let me take pics of her anymore. Anyway, above are a few good onces that I did get of her...even with the cheesy grin.

A Sneak Peek

Here is a sneak peek at Kristin's senior photo shoot. We shot about 300 images and I have made it through about 100 so far. I think we got some great shots! And, she is a great model!

It's Official

It's official...I launched my photography business. I finally bit the bullet and did it. What better time is the present. I have actually been working on it for several weeks now, and it is now ready to go.

Eras Photography is now booking sessions.
In case you were wondering, Eras was named after Emma. Those are her initials :)

I have several practice sessions booked now and a couple of real paying customers as well!

So Serious

Here are a couple that I took of Emma this morning. She is either cheesing it up with a fake smile these days or I get pics like these. These turned out great, with her serious look. But, it would be nice to have some of her beautiful smile!

Another Session

I just booked another session for my sitter's two kiddos. Woohoo!

Practice Sessions

Well, I did it. I have 5 practice sessions booked now! I am doing my sister's "senior" pictures on Sunday. Then, I have appointments to photograph 3 of my friends' children and 1 family portrait session. I am so excited to see how they all turn out! Maybe this dream of a photography business is going to come true!

Another edit

The original posted pretty small, but if you click on the pic, you can see it larger. For this pic, I got rid of the smudge on her upper lip, got rid of the dark circles around her eyes, and whitened the whites of her eyes. Then, I blurred it a tiny bit.

More Edits

Heather and I were trying to figure out how to get rid of Emma's dark circles. Low and behold...Chapter 7 in my book. Here is the finished product on the bottom and the orginal on the top. I also got rid of a bit of a dirty nose :)

Playing in Photoshop

I spent a couple hours at Heather's house today and we did some playing in Photoshop. I learned alot and got more comfortable with the program. On the way home, Emma and I stopped at Barnes & Noble and picked up a book by Scott Kilby that Heather recommended. In just a few short pages, I learned how to open my jpegs in camera RAW and do some awesome editing on them. So, here is my first attempt at playing. I love how this pic turned out. The top is the straight out of the camera shot and the bottom is the edited shot.

Comfy Dog

Now that is a comfy dog! Heidi has gotten too big for her bed, but she still tries to lay in it. She is so funny when she is all sprawled out on her back. She was so sleepy!

Aunt Kristin

I had to blog this pic...because Aunt Kristin is ALWAYS texting. Her phone is always in her hand and the text messages are flying. I am not looking forward to Emma becoming a teenager! That said, Kristin is such a good kid...and we love having her stay with us. :)