Kayzlie's Cake Smash

My niece turns one tomorrow!!! I feel like I just took her newborn pictures!!! She is growing up so quickly and she is so SO cute! Here's just a small sampling from her cake smash photo shoot. It was my first time doing one of these.

Kayzlie's Cake Smash

Taylor Family Calendar

For Christmas I endeavored to make a family calendar for Brandon & his parents for Christmas. I probably bit off more than I could chew, but I am VERY happy with how it all turned out. And relieved to be done with it and have it on my refrigerator to enjoy.

I did make one big mistake... and it kind of puts me in the dog house: I said my husband and his twin brother are turning 28 AGAIN this year. Really I think they should just take it as a compliment. :)

Cover:

January-December:

Back Cover:

I really hope it was something they enjoyed. I would love to do it each year, but I am not committing myself to that yet. Because I did this calendar, a photo book for the Linn side of the family, edited four photo shoots, and moved our family to a bigger home in December. And I'm 30 weeks along.

No, right now, I'm committing myself to a break. :)

The Toomey Family

Last Saturday I completed a photo shoot for my friend Rachel. Her daughter Paisley turned two at the end of November and asked to take some pictures to remember this milestone in her life. We postponed once due to snow in early November. Then on our rescheduled date, it snowed again. Agh! It was frustrating!!! 

But I really think it was a blessing in disguise because I love how magical and whimsical it all turned out to be.

Keeping warm as can be in her scarf. efficiency was a must and we did everything outside in under 15 minutes.

Giving Thanks Photo Challenge Revisited

Last year I said I would do a photo challenge... and failed. Miserably. This year, I'm going to try again. And if I only post one photo, it will be an improvement from the prior year. :) Can't beat those odds.

November 11th: Something Old

Card to my dad on Father's day this past year

November 10th: Light

November 9th: Bedtime Ritual

Technically this is nap time. But no matter what, Ryan and I always have Eskimo kisses, Eskimo hugs, and end with a big hug.

November 8th: Quiet Moment

I have one of these pictures for almost every flight we take. Because we now know that dad is really the one with the magic touch, not me. Give him the kids for the flight and they fall asleep. Never fails. In those quiet moments I get to look at the three boys who take up the most room in my heart.

November 7th: Family Time

What better way to spend time as a family than on dad's birthday! These boys love him so much and so do I. Family time, family hugs, all things family are my favorite part of each day.

November 6th: Captured Time

One of those moments that I hope never to forget. I read a blog once dedicating pictures to the theme of "Kids Were Here." And that's why I took this picture. To remember that my kids are here. And that means all the toys and accessories were too. And it is only a moment, only a moment before it will be gone.

November 5th: Favorite Read

Titled this picture on my computer "In with Julianne"

Currently? Edenbrooke & Blackmoore by Julianne Donaldson. They are the perfect escape into a timeless romance that has you giggling, page turning, & blissfully teary in the end. Yes, I am a hopeless romantic. And yes, I love cheesy stuff like this. I had my book signed by her just over 2 months ago, and acted just like a teenage girl seeing Jericho Road for the first time (yes, I did meet them when I was 16, and yes I let them sign my arm in sharpie because I lacked paper). Okay enough embarrassing moments disclosed.

November 4th: A Stranger

Boise, Idaho

Amish Country, in Pennsylvania

I just couldn't choose between these two! Both are such unique sightings, but totally different circumstances. The life of another person remains infinitely interesting to me. A picture will never tell their whole story, and yet it can tell just enough to get a glimpse and make you wonder. Curiosity alone never holds the whole answer. It's takes action on our part to find out the rest.

November 3rd: Beauty is...

All of the above, and so much more...

November 2nd: Something I can't live without

My External Hard Drive is definitely something I can't live without. I had a friend who lost the first years worth of pictures of their first child. That Christmas, I asked for this for Christmas. That was back in 2007. And this is still one of my most prized possessions. Because my camera is nice, but this preserves all the pictures that I take and the memories we have made.

November 1st: Favorite Food

This is largely due to the fact that I'm pregnant right now. With my first two boys, I couldn't get enough of lemons. This time, I'm all about grapefruit. Sticking with the citrus family, I guess. And when I discovered it came in packaged cups, I literally squealed like a kid in a candy store. I have eaten more grapefruit than I ever want to account for over the last 19 weeks. It has been my saving grace on multiple occasions when nothing else sounds appealing. Only downside: I shared with Mason and now he love it too. So I only get 1/2 a cup these days. :o)

Sew: Superhero Cape

My nephew's birthday was yesterday and we are visiting him for his birthday party this Saturday. He just turned four and he is ALL boy! So I decided to make him a superhero cape! It took only about two hours. It should have taken less time but for some outlandish reason, I decided to sew it while my boys were AWAKE! It actually ended up being a fun experience. The boys were fascinated by my sewing machine and loved pushing the pedal to make it go.

Another project without a pattern. Thankfully Ryan is the same age as his cousin so I could use him as my template.

Hopefully this will motivate me to make these for my boys this Christmas, since now I know how to make one. And every little boy really should have at least one cape, am I right?

Project Beauty

Most days my hair ends up tossed in a pony tail. I'm lucky if I get my face washed in the morning and at night. And make up? Am I going anywhere? If yes, then I do the basics: foundation, powder, mascara. If no, I brush my teeth and call it good. And yet, just before Brandon comes home, I find myself in the bathroom, touching up my hair so it looks presentable. Putting on make up if it didn't make it to my face that day.

That's my daily routine. And the joke of it all is on those days when forces of nature (i.e. my two boys) prevent me from doing much more than that pony tail and a clean face, those are the days when I get extra compliments from my husband. Usually I just wave them off. Give him an unconvinced thank you. Expressing silent gratitude that I have a husband who doesn't notice all that I do when I look in the mirror. Yet he continues on, with the most sincere face I've ever seen, telling me that he thinks I look most beautiful with no make up.

To that I reply, "How can you say that? You fell in love with me when my hair was always down in curls. My make up was always done." He shrugs his shoulders and says again that I look beautiful.

What is beauty? I looked it up. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition of:

beau·ty

 noun \ˈbyü-tē\

: the quality of being physically attractive

: the qualities in a person or a thing that give pleasure to the senses or the mind

: a beautiful woman

So last weekend when he left out of town for a work trip, I decided to prove him wrong. The boys were playing surprisingly well on their own in their room. So I got to work. Setting up my tripod and camera. And took a picture of every stage when I get ready for the day. So pride aside, here they are:

And I discovered I can't prove him entirely wrong. While yes I think that Stage 1 is a more frightful sight, can I call myself not beautiful? No. I can't. Do I like an evened skin stone in Stage 2 better? YES! And do I like the eye enhancement from Stage 3? Yes. From then on, the blush, lipstick, the curls. Sure a nice touch for pictures. Do I think them necessary for beauty? No.

So I couldn't prove Brandon completely wrong. I don't think I was completely wrong either. But I think how I define beauty in myself has been completely warped.

Before this whole process, I thought my beauty only came in Stage 6. No, my self-esteem is not low. And I'm not posting this in search for self-affirming comments that I'm beautiful. I AM trying to prove that there is beauty in all of us, no matter the stage of primping.

As I reread through this all so familiar Young Women's theme this morning, a recurring thought came into my mind. That beauty is not just an outer quality. That beauty can come from within. What more beauty is there than a daughter of God who lives all of those Young Women values.

Young Women Theme 

WE ARE DAUGHTERS of our Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we love Him. WE WILL “STAND as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places” (Mosiah 18:9) as we strive to live the Young Women values, which are:

Faith • Divine Nature • Individual Worth • Knowledge • Choice and Accountability • Good Works • Integrity • and Virtue

WE BELIEVE as we come to accept and act upon these values, WE WILL BE PREPARED to strengthen home and family, make and keep sacred covenants, receive the ordinances of the temple, and enjoy the blessings of exaltation.

That is the root of beauty. The roots of happiness.

And all the people who have told me I am beautiful in my life, I hope have been seeing that. I just need to choose to see that portion of beauty too when I look in the mirror. To recognize the beauty our Father in Heaven recognizes in me. That my own children show me. When my near four year old son turns to me in the morning and says, "Mom, you are so beautiful." The giant good night hugs my near two year old gives me accompanied with mounds of giggles.

"There is beauty all around, when there's love at home." (Love at Home, Hymn 294)

And that is the beauty that matters to me most.

The Lott Family

Fall. My favorite season. All the leaves look so beautiful here in Boise. So when my friend Robyn asked me to take some fall pictures of her family, I couldn't resist! Her three kids are so sweet and did really well with having my camera constantly pulled up towards them. Thank you, Lott family, for letting me spend time getting to know you a little better. You have a beautiful family.