She’s been so sick and now I’m getting it, too. We’ve been good for nothing much except snuggling by the TV for these past few days. I hope she turns the corner soon. I miss my sunny princess. 

Since I don’t feel much like blogging myself, thought I’d share with you some recent Pinkle Toes blog features and let them do the talkin’:

The Maternal Lens

The Baby Cove

Nighty, night.

I always think it’s so much fun to see these, so I thought I’d share a little behind the scenes with you.  I try to remember to step back and take pictures of the surroundings, but usually I forget. This time, I happened to catch a glimpse of it in the mirror and thought "ooooh, perfect!" Enjoy, but don’t let it fool you. Newborns aren’t always this peaceful. We were pretty darned lucky with this little angel.

I came home from my session to the sweetest surprise. While I was away, the boys (+ the girl) went to the store to get some Valentine’s Day treats. I was already a little emotional, but when I realized that my husband bought flowers not only for me, but for baby girl AND my sister, I just couldn’t contain my tears. I was so very touched. My boys did good.

When I was a little girl, when I would ask my mom what she wanted for her birthday, she’d always answer, "I don’t need anything. I have everything I could ever want right here." Back then, I thought she was just being humble. Now I get it. It makes complete sense. Yes. I have everything I could ever want right here.

I hope you are enjoying your own "everything you could ever want."

I haven’t really discouraged her from walking. But I haven’t really ENcouraged her either. As a matter of fact, I’ve tried to ignore the fact that she would one day be on two legs and not really a "baby" anymore. It is difficult not to melt into her pure enthusiasm with her newly discovered skill. She looks proud as punch every time she gets from point A to point B as a bi-ped. But the truth of the matter is that my heart sank a little lot today when I realized she is in fact walking. Next thing you know, she’ll be running, potty-trained, wanting to dress herself, asking to borrow the car, dating–it’s a short trip, people. And I’m not ready for it.

I think I’ll regress and do some pouting tonight.

We’ve got spirit!

Yes, we do!

We’ve got spirit!

How ’bout you?

Breakfast this morning complete w/ burnt orange eggs. Yummo!

Go Horns!

There’s so much to tell, so many pictures I want to post, but time at the computer is so rare amidst all of the visits with family and friends.  So, here is our holiday card from this year and here’s the latest from VA:

1. Hearing, tasting, seeing, and smelling *real* snow again has been heavenly.

2. Watching my boys have a knock down, drag out snowball fight with their daddy and the three of them loving every minute of it was even better.

3. Rosy-red cheeks and sweaty hat hair is just about the cutest thing ever on kids.

4. I am feeling blessed beyond words to introduce this place that was such a huge part of my childhood to my own children.

5. The hospitality shown by my Great Aunt and Uncle and the rest of our family here just warms my heart.

6. Tomorrow, we hit Colonial Williamsburg to have our session with my good online friend and rockin’ photog, Patti. Can’t wait to finally meet her and her family!

7. So far, this has been one of the best Christmas holidays ever.

8. I hope my kids feel the same way.

9. And, I hope this holiday season is just as wonderful for you!

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I started this post before we left and had already included a preview of our annual calendar (our gifts to family). If you wanna flip through here you go, but Mee Maw and Nee Nee…NO peeking!  (Also,before anyone asks, this is a template I put together using several other design elements for my personal use, but it is not for sale/distribution): 

Hope you all have a WONDERFUL holiday and enjoy your time with family and friends!

I know I’ve said this time and time before, but I admit, I’ve been a little scared to put it to the test and now I know why. This holiday season, I’m sure you’re all busily preparing gift prints to surprise friends and family, but before you upload your images to just any ol’ print lab (out of convenience or just because they’re less expensive), take a look at this:

Same image ordered from three different places.  I know you can’t see the insanely poor paper quality of Other Lab 1 and Other Lab 2, but I know the color difference is quite clear. The one on the left is what most closely matches what it *should* look like in print. *This* is the place that I recommend you print your images from. I have recommended them for years and looking at these variations, it’s easy to see why. If you are a past client of mine and you’ve received your image CD, you already know the main lab that I recommend…so trust me and use them!  If you are still waiting for your CD, all of this information along with other printing tips and design ideas will be included on there.  Read it.  I could save you from purchasing a gigantic 16×20 pink/purple pop art poster like the monster that is from Other Lab 1.  Eeek!

ETA: I’ve been getting a lot of e-mails/comments about which print lab is which, but I’m reserving this information for my clients only. I encourage all photographers to run their own tests with their own lab choices and see what works best for them.

Not her Halloween costume. But it could have been. If she left the glasses on that I kept trying to put on her.

P.S. Only ONE opening left (p.m.) for the Nov 22nd Xpressions!  BOOKED!

Like with bluebonnets and holiday pics, we’ve done pumpkin patch pictures every year. It’s tradition. You have to do it. Sadly, this year, thanks to us being sick and the resulting schedule conflicts, I really did not think it was going to happen. Then, when we showed up at the pumpkin patch to find it FILLED with school kids on a field trip, I really thought it wasn’t going to happen. And when my middle child got bonked in the head with a pumpkin (???) and had total meltdown before I even snapped the first picture, I knew for sure it wasn’t going to happen. But it happened. And mama is very happy.

It is sooooooooo lovely to see you!

(I’m going to take advantage of having a willing model for as long as I possibly can.)

Some of you may have seen this image I tweeted from the San Antonio Zoo the other day. It was taken with my iPhone and the quality is well, iPhone, but I LOVE this pic! I so wish I could blow it up and hang it in our house.

I’m out for a girls’ weekend with my mom, sis, and baby girl.  I’ll get back to messages, etc. when I return next week. Evidently, the boys have big plans while we’re away. I’m pretty sure those plans involve Kraft Mac ‘n Cheese and movies that feature robots and monsters.