Busted....
Happy Birthday Kylan!!
Kylan's birthday was on the 9th. I can't believe my little boy is already "the big 1"! It is amazing how big they get so fast. I just love him to pieces and think he is the cutest thing on earth... of course. :) For his birthday we just kept it small. I love making cakes (I actually made my wedding cake for our second reception in Denver). It is something I have loved doing for ages, and I have made more than my share... I had big plans for Kylan's cake, of course. It was a football field, and I was going to make the Bronco's logo out of Marzipan to put in the middle, and do all kinds of cool piping. But, life gets crazy, and not only could I not find my piping stuff, we had a much busier weekend than anticipated. So, here is the end result. Unfortunately.
Luckily Matt convinced me to make it a small family thing. Since I am still doing dishes from it I am very glad he talked me into that. He made Fajitas, which were amazing, and during dinner, of course, I ended up loosing everything I had eaten... Again - VERY glad we just made it a family thing!! My sister, who has been trying to have a baby for quite some time, looked at her husband and said "We've been praying for THAT for 10 years?!" :) VERY embarrassing.... But, all in all the party went well. We just hung out and watched the olympics. Here are a few pics from the evening.
Our family that came to celebrate
He wasn't sure what to think of the cake at first, but he enjoyed it once I helped him get started!
Kylan loves to clap, so when we clapped after singing to him, he joined in!
Kylan and Aunt Candace, after a BATH! It is amazing - even after the bath he was still sticky!
My dad always sings the "who let the dogs out" song to Kylan. Well, now Ky does the "who, who, who" part. It is SO funny. Here he is singing with grandpa.
Saved by extenuating circumstances
It was a rough morning. I have finally figured out what I can and can't eat in the morning to keep things down. So I thought I was completely safe when I washed and cut up my peach. My mistake. Peach is NOT pleasant coming back up, especially after you've had to keep it down because you are waging war against the ants attacking your house. Not pleasant, to say the least. It always takes a lot out of me, so needless to say I felt like garbage.
At around 12:30 I was going to be doing a photoshoot at my grandparents house, where I was supposed to be helping put that pod thing in the right place. My friend Ashley is due in just a few weeks and we wanted to do some Maternity pictures of her. We were also going to do a few of her son, who just turned one a few months ago. We photographed her wedding, her son's 6 month pictures, and family pictures in the interim. We were supposed to do Maternity pictures for her first baby, but we were in Utah and they were here in Las Vegas so it just never worked out. I was so exited to finally do these for her! I have always wanted to put together an album that goes from engagements to wedding to maternity to family. But, back on subject.... I got a call from Ashley this morning. Her son got a black eye yesterday rough-housing with a cousin, so his pictures were out. And she was going into labor! Needless to say, we will be doing newborn pictures in a couple of days instead of maternity...
Definitely a crazy morning.
When it rains it POURS!!
The worst part about the ants? Kylan's birthday is tomorrow so we will be having family over on Sunday for dinner, cake and ice cream... And the ants aren't exactly helping with my morning sickness!!
PIZZA!
Well, not-so-surprisingly enough, Kylan LOVES pizza! Considering we had pizza 3 times a week during my last trimester of pregnancy with him, it isn't exactly a shock. (He also likes pickles, another craving I had.) But boy was it cute when he was eating it! I was attempting to be a good parent, feeding him the veggie-filled baby food as we chowed down on the extra cheese and crazy bread. But then Matt gave him a bite of his pizza, and... well, Ky ate almost an entire piece all by himself! Call me crazy, but I think he liked it!No thanks, Mom. I'll do it MYSELF.
You wanted to feed me dinner mom? No thanks, I'll do it myself.
In fact, I don't want babyfood. I will just spit it out all over my onesie. 
I want that thing in the bookshelf that I know you don't want me to get into. So I won't ask you to get it for me - I'll just GET INSIDE the bookshelf and get it myself.
Why would I need help getting out?!
I can do it myself!!
Kylan LOVES the window. I am sure he would love being outside if we actually had grass and it wasn't 200 degrees outside... But the back of the couch is his window-seat and he has a grand ol' time.
Don't worry, Mom! I can get out of the window by myself!
Oh, you wanted to take my picture?!?! I can do that by myself, too!!Another Robbery Rant
So, we finally 'finished' cleaning up the remnants of the robbery yesterday. It is always so much fun attempting to put things back together again when they aren't yours and you don't know how they were supposed to be to begin with. (just a HINT of sarcasm....) I brought my dog along, even though my husband and my sister were there, and my dad for a little while, it still freaked me out a bit being in that big house with so many hiding places. On my other blog my friend Natalie posted a comment remembering one of our notorious games of hide-and-seek - it took us a good twenty minutes to find her one time, and everyone there was looking for her!! She finally started banging on the walls until we found her!
The house wasn't completely trashed. Just my grandparents room and their den. That clean up took us what seemed like forever. Can you imagine if they had trashed more?! The funniest part about it is the things they took and the things they left. They left probably $30 or more in stray bills and change, but they took the title to an old car my grandparents don't even have anymore. The entire thing was just strange. I am honestly surprised they didn't spend more time going through things more thoroughly. But when I had stopped by Monday to bring in the mail I noticed a closet was open and I thought I heard a toilet flush. Mind you, the house is really old and makes all kinds of noises so I wasn't TOO terrified, but I had a feeling I needed to get out of there fast... but Matt thinks I probably interrupted them. At this point I have to say I agree. The thought of it just makes me shiver! But now the entire neighborhood is aware and the house is being watched 'by professionals' so that gives me a little more peace of mind. There are several of us stopping by a few times a day, but honestly unless they plan on moving a grand piano out the front doors, by themselves, without being noticed by the entire neighborhood, there's not much to steal. Our family is so sentimental. Looking for valuables they will find pictures and journals, old dresses my grandmother hand-made for dances, weddings and plays over the last 30 years, cabbage patch dolls trashed with the same 30 years of kids and grand kids, and old report cards. I actually found my last Senior report card in the clean up! Even the furniture they have had since before I was born, out of pure nostalgia.
Anyway - the entire thing baffles me. It is so funny that the things we prize the most are the things that are of no monetary value. I sincerely doubt that all of our wedding pictures hung in the dining room would get a good price at a pawn shop...
Keeping the blog personal - AND TERRIFYING
I have been such a slacker on this blog lately, and I have been terrible about our family blog too, www.krystalyandmatt.blogspot.com, (but that's nothing new) and it just reminded me about the goal we had in the first place to keep this blog more personal. So, here is our little adventure from last night.... It was a doosey.
I stopped by my grandparent's house last night to pick up the mail only to find that their house had been broken into! I had taken the trash cans up from the curb and walked around the back and found the back door kicked in... *ugh* they are the most giving people I have ever met. That this would happen to them of all people is just heart breaking. I called my aunt/sister (it's complicated - but not wiered. Promise.) who is in charge of watching the house and I called the cops. I wasn't crazy enough to go in there by myself!! I was a kid in this house - I know that there are TONS of places to hide, some you would never be found in! Friends of mine from college will attest - we had many very crazy games of hide-and-go-seek there - even as adults!! The cops had to go and we had to wait for the processing unit to come. So, I called my dad! Having been in law enforcement for years and being a very large and scary looking man, who else would I call?! He and my brother and, of course, my darling husband all came to the rescue (baby in-tow might I add). We were there til about 2 am... (needless to say I have a very cranky child). It just breaks my heart to see that. It is such a scary thing. It scares me to be in that house alone even still, and i'm 25 - even when it hasn't been broken into! *sigh* but, so be it, and all we can do is go from here. And maybe buy them a pit-bull or two... :)
Greek Wedding
Jennie and Dan were a fantastic couple who came all the way from Chicago. We got to photograph Jennie in her suite at the Flamingo while she was getting ready, and her jitters were just darling. They had a traditional Greek Orthodox wedding, which was absolutely amazing. Their pictures and their party were at the Flamingo. I won't call it a reception because that word won't do it justice. If you have ever been to a Greek wedding you would know - those Greeks know how to PARTY! I would do a Greek wedding every weekend for a month! Bottom line, it was an amazing wedding with a ridiculously fun couple. We took over 4,000 pictures - I think that sums up what a fantastic wedding it was.
Update on us...
Kylan said his first word!! And KEEPS saying it, for that matter..... Sunday, which just happened to be Father's day, we were sitting in church and I was holding Ky on my lap. Well, he decided he didn't want me anymore. So he reached for Matt and said, clear as day, "Daddy!" Let me tell ya, Matt has been rubbing it in ever since. Monday when Matt left Kylan kept saying his name over and over again, like he was wondering where he was. And today Kylan was playing in the office and had pulled himself up so he was standing, hanging on to the baby gate in the doorway. He could see Matt in the kitchen and kept crying "Daddy, Daddy!!" until Matt came and picked him up. It didn't take him long! But then, who could resist that?!
Senior Pictures
Senior pictures are always a fun deviation from 'the norm'. Being a senior - who can forget it?! High School in and of itself is a time of self-expression and growth - a time of figuring out who you are. What an amazing thing to be able to capture: the end of one journey and the beginning of another.Sherese was a gorgeous graduate from Foothill High. She has the bluest eyes I have ever seen - they are literally BABY BLUE. (I swear I only re-touched them in the black and white photo!) She was a little nervous at first. Who wouldn't be? I am SO glad we decided to do her pictures outside, she was infinitely more comfortable here than she would have been in studio. We laughed and goofed around the entire time, just trying to keep things as light (and her looking as natural) as possible. It's hard to be natural when you have a camera so close it's making you cross-eyed. :) but she was a great sport. She delt with all of my tyrrany with casual hysteria (she was so scared of the camera!!), and I did whatever I could to keep her smiling! Well, as you can see, it worked. We really had a blast with her, and she swears she had just as good of a time as we did.
Kristi and Steve
Kristi and Steve were one of the coolest couples of all time. They were crazy, to say the least. Just to give you a little background information on them to explain their insanity... Kristi was one of the character's at Disney World. That sums her personality up in just a few words. They wanted their engagement pictures done of them playing on a playground. Swings, slides, monkey bars... the works. The picture they chose for their announcement was actually of them in a tree! But this one was one of my favorites. Who ever thought monkey bars could be so romantic?
They decided they wanted to go somewhere on their honeymoon that is by no means a commonplace honeymoon destination. So, when they got their 'wedding budget' from their parents they decided to trade out their beautiful catered luncheon for sloppy-joes, chips and lemonade. They used the extra money and went to Greece instead! Instead of a reception they had a party, catered by Leatherby's ice cream. They cut their cake with a butcher knife and Kristi had Steve hold her hair as she dove face first into the cake. I have pictures of them in full wedding regalia, climbing jungle gyms, going through the monkey bars upside down and head first, doing flips on the trampoline and climbing a tree. And to top it all off, when they left their ceremony, instead of opening the car door, Kristi ran and jumped through the open window... IN HER WEDDING DRESS!!!
For their first anniversary they decided to get an album of their insanity. It is definitely one of my favorite weddings to remember! Happy Anniversary you two. If anyone deserves it, you do.
Here is the link to view their album:
http://www.sheerelegancephotography.com/NewsomeAlbum/
The Bell Family
Taking family pictures with little ones can have a tendancy to be a little bit crazy. This shoot in particular required a little more care and cosideration than most family shoots. The darling little girl here has Rett Syndrome. We wanted to make sure she was comfortable in her surroundings and that there wouldn't be too much around to over-stimulate her. So, we went somewhere no kid could ever feel unwelcome - my grandmother's house! My grandparents are currently serving a mission for our church, but the backyard is still completely shaded with huge old trees, and the swingset and trampoline are still in great working condition. What kid wouldn't love that! Plus the fact that they wouldn't have to share with any other kids as they would have on a playground. It worked brilliantly. The kids were happy, most of the time, and we ended up with several really great shots. I was honestly shocked they turned out so well.
We ended up taking over 1500 pictures, but our favorites are in a separate folder (There are around 80 of them) if you want to take a look!
www.Pictage.com/477161
Ballerina
Let me preface this with the fact that I have NEVER had such a hard time choosing which pictures to post. EVER. Click here to view the entire shoot: http://www.pictage.com/client/event.do?event=467024This one is definitely worth a look!
Shauna was simply stunning, and an absolute blast to photograph! I was surprised that she was actually nervous at first. I guess dancing for hundreds of people on a regular basis is one thing, but dancing for two of your own personal paparazzi is quite another! Once she got started she never looked back. She was so comfortable with herself, and she was one of the most graceful things I have ever seen. She was so exited to do the desert pictures, something funky but still graceful. Personally, I think we nailed it.
Click here to view the entire shoot: http://www.pictage.com/client/event.do?event=467024