My little hiatus.

Were have I been? Well me & my husband picked up our lives in Virginia & moved to Michigan. As you may know. My husband has been working & was going to school. I would like to announce though that we are................

Yup! We are having a baby Hardy : )

We found out on April 31st 2012. I took 5 tests to make sure & then  confirmed it with a doctors appointment with blood work. My HCG levels where 29 at the first draw 3 days later it was 96. The doctor's office had me wait until I was 8 weeks to get an ultrasound. On June 4th 2012 my life changed forever! I saw our little bean on the screen & cried. I am overjoyed to be a mother to our little one. 

My husband was in shock I think. He may never admit it but I believe he was. He is just now getting amped up to met our little one. I am in due in January at the beginning. Down side it will be dead of winter! UGH!  

I have so much joy & happiness that I could burst. I am nervous & scared all at the same time. I know God will bless us & be with me always. He will lead me down the right path. 

Thnx to our friends & family for being so supportive. 

Due Date: 01/13/2013

Gender: Unknown

Gestational age: 11w6d

Chico | Family

I had the honor of shooting this lovely little family. You may remember Franki (the only little white girl in the photo) from my previous post. This is her father's family. Her 3 little gorgeous sisters, step mother, & father. They are an adorable little family. I had an amazing time with them & I was wore out at the end of the shoot. Franki, Noelani, Aida, & Arella from oldest to youngest. Such unique but gorgeous names. Aida kept running away & getting distracted. She also is very intelligent. Noelani loves to follow Franki around & you can tell she looks up to her. Arella is her own person. She has the cutest personality. Franki is just a ball of crazyness. She loves to be in the know of everything & loves to be the mother goose.

The family. Eunice, Neftaly, Arella, Noelani, Aida, & Franki.

Daddy with all his little girls.

Neftaly with his littlest girl, Arella.

The queen of the house. Eunice is the most sweetest gorgeous mommy EVER! 

Neftaly, the man of the house.

 

Franki & Noelani. They are so close & Noelani really looks up to her big sister. BTW Franki speaks fluent spanish! :)

Aida, Nolani, & Franki.

Aida & her sassy little self. 

True Love | Vox Box Influenster

I heard about Influenster on youtube.com. I can't remember the guru's name off top but I remember Influenster. What the company does is round up all social media influencers to share their lifestyles with other influencers. When you sign up you get badges for social media sites you participate on. A few of them are blogger, youtube, twitter, etc; When you receive badges you have an opportunity to receive a Vox Box. Sound mysterious? It is!!! It's also exciting!

I missed the holiday Vox Box so I signed up to get the Love Box. Influenster will send you an email when the boxes are ready & they will ship about 2 weeks later. I got mine about 2 weeks after. Fast shipping for the east coast for sure. Yesterday my lovely mysterious box came. They don't tell you what's in the boxes before they ship them. 

Here are the things I received:

Stashes Herbal tea: $3.50

9 flavors

Acai Berry

Blueberry Superfruit

Chamomile

Cinnamon Apple Chamomile

Lemon Ginger

Licorice Spice (yuk)

Mango Passionfruit (yumm Mango)

Peppermint

Wild Raspberry Hibiscus

Kiss nail dress: $6.99

56708 KDS10

Gillette Venus & Olay: $8.99-$10.99

5 blades & Olay

Moisture bars

Ghirardelli Chocolate: $2.99

Creamy Devotion

Plus a dollar off coupon on any 2 bars.

Trivia: $3.99

Calorie Free Sweetener

Let's talk about the juicy deets. So basically I love all of the stuff they sent. It was like they knew me! I already us Venus so the blades & extra razors were a plus! The sweetener I have been wanting to try out. I have plenty of fruits to put it on & in my tea. The tea, ahhhhh, I love tea I have been drinking a lot of tea lately. It is calorie free & gives you energy. Ghirardelli chocolate is my favorite. It is by far the best chocolate I have tasted it. The Kiss nail art I am excited to try it. I have never bought it because it is over priced for stickers. I believe. 

All in all I am happy I participated in this & will in the future. They do vox boxes every holiday I believe or quarter. I am not sure but go on over to their site & sign up. :) 

All opinions are my own. I was not compensated in anyway, shape or form.

McDonald | Mother & Daughter

The love that a mother & daughter share is like no other. Sarah & Ashley are amazing. They are best friends & it clearly shows. When I met Ashley she was so funny. She actually talked to me & most kids don't right away. She was so excited to be doing a photo shoot. :) I had so much fun with these two. Thanks Sarah & Ashley for letting me shoot your mother & daughter bond. 

A mother's love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity. It dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stand in its path. - Agathia Christie

Martin Luther King Day | Monument

January 15, 1929 our world was forever changed. Martin Luther  King Jr. was born. He will go down in history with an amazing dream to better our world. He will go on to make a difference in our world. On April 4, 1968 our dreams, our children's dreams, & any type of hope will be forever changed. In 1986 MLK Jr. Day was established as a U.S. Federal Holiday. 

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." - MLK Jr.

You can watch & listen HERE. 

I just wanted to briefly touch on this because he was an amazing man. I went in October to visit the monument with a dear friend. I recommend everyone go to see this. Very touching & inspiring. I took some photos with my iPhone so they are not the best but hey none the less you get a glimpse of the monument. :)

Philly | Days I miss

That was a hot day in Philly. 

Santiago's 1st Birthday | God Son

My Godson Santiago turned one on November 28th 2011. His mother, my best friend, asked me to attend & be the photographer. Here are the photos from the party at Crazy Bounce. The best place to have a birthday party. They have stuff for all ages. :)




Daddy, Baby, & Mommy.
Blowing out his candles.



He was in heaven.



Eating his personal cake.



Baby eating pizza nom nom nom!



Guychie, baby, Turtle, & Mommy. 



(Aunties & Mommy)

My favorite photos of 2011 | photography

I took some time to go through my favorite photos to share with you all. It is pretty hard to pick my favorites since I love them all so much. I will add more when we get off Holiday. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did taking them.

This has to be my favorite picture EVER! This was taken in Arlington Cemetery at the changing of the guard. I recommend everyone visit this place at least once. 

Joe & Sarah's wedding day. This picture needs to explanation. The love is radiating off of them. 

Melanie's first triathlon in Richmond, Virginia. Triathlons are so inspiring. I was nervous about this since it was my first time shooting at one. I would love to be apart of another one.

Priscilla's white pony. When I shot with Priscilla she had 3 horses roaming the range. This one happened to love me. She was gorgeous.

Francis "Stacks" was my first shoot ever in Fredericksburg. I had an amazing time & he is awesome to work with. This is the Amtrak station downtown & I love this spot. 

Told you I loved this spot. Emily & Cody where expecting their first baby. Cody's mother asked me to shoot their maternity photos & I  happily agreed. I believe it was the hottest day of the year. Congrats to them both on their beautiful daughter.

Breathe taking Philadelphia buildings. We visited some friends in Jersey & wanted to visit the Love sign. The sun was setting & I captured this. 

I love love love this photo. Personally I think it belongs in a magazine! I love how the bar is in the background. Thomas & Brooke's wedding in October. I enjoyed this wedding so much. Very relaxed & laid back. So much love in the air.

Brady a spunky little one year old. He was such a ham & didn't want his photos taken. I even had toys & that was a no go. I ended up with this shot by sitting him down next to the chalk board & he got up to bolt for the rocks. 

My niece Reanna. She is so full of life & has her own little personality. She knows what she wants & does everything in a skirt! I had to get a shot of those two front teeth.

I hope you all have a safe New Years & embrace 2012 because baby it's here!! :)

Look back on our Christmas 2011 | Family

Me & hubby drove up to spend our Christmas with my family this year. I always love the 10 hour drive we have to make to get here :( just kidding! We have a tradition where we all (My mother's brother's, sister's, kids, & grand kids) go to my Aunt's house for a Christmas party.  My mother is 1 of 9 kids so there is a good amount of people there. We all bring a dish to pass & usually exchange gifts or ornaments. This year we chose ornaments to exchange. That was fun & hilarious. Also all the women & girls were given a pair of Christmas socks to wear if we didn't already have them on. I made Santa hats that I found on Pinterest. Hubby made pig in the blankets. My parents brought ham onion roll ups with cream cheese, a family favorite. 

Nate, Naoma, Mama, Michelle, & Randi. 

Brother & sisters. (Missing 3)

Hubby, Mama, & my little broham

Oh this little handsome devil is my nephew Ayden. 

Our ornament we where exchanging. Wolverines!!! GO BLUE!

My step father Virgil & my sister Megan.

Freddie & Leah

Cousin & 2nd Cousin

Grandma Joyce's homemade ornaments.

Everyone's favorite ornament from Grandma Joyce.

Clarisse making grandma Joyce's famous sugar candies. 

Cousin's daughter

Amanda & Michelle

Cousin & Aunt

It snowed when we left the party!! I love Michigan:)

Reanna my niece by grandma Traci's Christmas tree

How we ended our Christmas night! :)

Christmas Eve me & hubby spent it with my father & step mother. We open our gifts & eat dinner. We talk, laugh, joke, argue, & just plain have fun. All my brother's & sister's go over there & just spend time together.This year I didn't grab any photos because I wanted to relax & help clean. My brother Aaron spent his first Christmas with us EVER! I was so happy he came. He is adopted out to an amazing family & usually is with them. This year he came to have dinner & just hang out. 

My photos from my iPhone 4. 

Christmas socks!!

Santa Hats

Brownie bite topped with vanilla frosting & a strawberry. 

Snowmen

Nutter butter bars, white candy melts, M&M's, tic tacs, & vanilla frosting dyed black. 

I brought these cute little guys to my father's house for Christmas Eve dinner.

I hope you all enjoyed your holiday! 

Be safe & enjoy your New  Year. Do you have any resolutions for 2012 or are you opting out?