The Tree.

Ok, I'm the first to admit it...we're lame. We have a fake tree, we're not one of those cool families that go out and pick out their special tree every ear. When we first got married I insisted that we go out and chop down our own tree. So during our first Christmas together we cut down the cutest charlie brown tree!

Isn't it cute?

The next year we had our surprise blessing Valley! She was only 3 months old and once again I insisted on cutting down our own tree. So we went out and bought a real tree...that was our compromise. We also bought glass ornaments...what was I thinking? Every single ornament shattered and it took me weeks to clean up the pine needles. That year we bought a fake tree on sale after Christmas. Have I looked back, wishing we still chopped down our tree? Wishing my daughter could experience that? Sure! But I also am thankful I don't have to clean up pine needles and glass shards =P

This year was our third year with our fake tree. Valley was so excited but got tired about 1/119 of the way through. She tired out and watched a show while we did all the work. We also let Valley decorate the tree herself. Which was a pretty big step for my analytical brain. I won't bore you with talk of my inner Christmas Tree struggle anymore. Here's the photos.

Princess Mini and Buggy [Alaska Child and Baby Photographer]

Today I went on base to see Princess Mini and Buggy. No, not their real names ;). I photographed them in their home. Their parents are very brave to have 2 sweet girls so close in age and also 3 dogs!! Well, I won't bore you with the details of the session. Here are the photos :)

The Pester Twins [Alaska Twin Newborn Photographer]

Definitely my favorite shoot to date!! I was overly thrilled when Brook called me to photograph her twins! I felt so fortunate to get twins so early on in my business! These babies were exactly like their mother described, easy going. They were fantastic! What was interesting about these babies is that the girl looked JUST like her mom and the boy looked JUST like his dad! I did bring an "assistant" aka my mom ;) to help out since there was double the baby and she was great too. Maybe one day I'll hire her full time =P Big brother Corbin was great! He was adorable and sweet with amazing eyes! Here's a sneak peak of the Pester family!

The boy version of my girl.

I have this picture of Lyric and he looks like Valley. Of course, he's bigger and manly-er...ps. I tend to verbify (another example) words if you didn't know ;). Anyways! So they look super similar. Lyric has a longer head and a different nose. But otherwise they could be the same. It's so weird because really neither of my children look anything like me. If I hadn't pushed them out I'd demand a maternity test...ok bad joke. But really they don't. Though people are starting to tell me that Valley looks more like me as she grows, which I think may be true. We'll see I guess ;).

Lets PAR-TAY!

I don't know who raised this child but man does my daughter like to have a party. She likes to go to parties equally as much, but today we were throwing one! Well, a very small one with just her cousin and BFF Mia. Lucky for us, Mia just lives directly above us 2 floors up. So her mom just walked down, dropped her off and the fun began! We had pizza and watched Toy Story 3. The girls made their own sundaes and put way to much candy on them. In the end they had a blast and the party was a success. Valleys been asking to have another one all day today, so I think she's pleased with how it went as well =)

The Jackson Family [Alaska Family Photographer]

I was just thinking how cool this day will be in 1 year from now! 11/11/11...I'm thinking about trying to get pregnant in Feburary just to try and have a baby on 11/11/11... ;)

Back to business...I had a blast with this very fun family!! They were up for almost anything and just a joy to photograph! It helped that Violet is one of Valleys best friends. And that they're similar in personality so I felt almost as if I was just photographing my own daughter. Violets such a sweetheart and did a fantastic job. I loved them and I'm more than happy with this photoshoot!!! Here's a little sneak peak :)

Paulo [Alaska Baby Photographer]

Today I walked all the way upstairs to do Paulos "newborn" shoot. It wasn't a true newborn shoot since he was 1 whole month old but I attempted newborn poses. It was my first time working with a baby other than my own. I'm mostly satisfied with how the photos turned out, and I learned a lot from the session. Thanks Joy for letting me practice on your adorable little guy!

Trick or Treating!!

Trick or Treating in Alaska is quite the challenge. While those in the lower 48 get to wear cute costumes and trick or treat in comfort... we Alaskans get to find costumes that a snow suit can fit under. Then run from house to house in 0 degree weather collecting as much candy as we can before our hands fall off.

This was our first year taking Valley trick or treating and it was super fun! She loved it and it wasn't really THAT cold, though it wasn't warm by any means. It was great and get got a small bucket of candy that should last us until Valentines day =)

Fadazzle Wazzle

We went to Fadazzle Wazzle yesterday!! Fadazzle Wazzle is an event our church MCA puts on for the children each year. There's always a theme, this year it was "Out of this world". So, aliens. Since I'm somewhat obsessed with Halloween and making the perfect costume for my daughter (and now son) I can't ever seem to go along with these themes. Valley had a blast, walking around with her 2 best friends Violet and Mia. They were a small parade of winged cutness.




Everywhere they went people stopped and aww'd. This is my favorite photo of the night. Well, it's actually one of my favorite photos of Valley ever. It just seems to capture her whole being in a nutshell!



I wasn't overly thrilled with her costume this year, so next year I will be putting in extra effort to make it perfect! Plus, there was just one too many bee's. I have a brillant idea for next year and NO ONE will think of it but me :D



You know how hard it is to get a good family photo...so here is our best one :P



And one of me and Lyric just for fun :)

Landon [Alaska Child Photographer]

I went to school with Tristen's sister Stephanie and to church with her family. It was very exciting when Tristen had Landon and now he's 3 years old!! Tristen had warned me that he might be shy, but she couldn't have been more wrong!! He was a ball of energy and we got lots of fantastic shots of him having fun!

Baby Lane [Alaska Baby Photographer]

This was a referal from the Seay (Izzy and Canaan). This family was so fun and this little one was so full of joy! His eyes are piercing blue and he did a fantastic job even at only 7 months. It makes me excited for when my little guy is 7 months!

Israel and Canaan [Alaska Child and Sibling Photographer]

I also met these 2 adorable boys when they were born! Canaan was a super grump the whole time but livened up when we got to the swings and Izzy was a ham! We had to climb up and over a fence with the boys for the train track shot but I think it was worth it. I hope their parents do too ;)

Jaden [Alaska Child Photographer]

I remember visiting Dana in the hospital when she had her precious baby boy, Jaden.

Now he's walking and she's expecting another baby boy in March! It's very neat when I get to photograph a friends baby, and Jaden was no exception. We happened upon a gorgeous bull moose and Dana was daring enough to let me capture this photo. Which just happens to be one of my favorite to date!