alex's 2nd birthday & other things

first though- a then & now

last year:



this year:





as you can see i had to fight with alex in order to get a picture.

"alex, smile! look at daddy!"
" NO WANNA! WANT GO! FOOFA!"

damnit kid. make a note that it was dark, raining, the light inside the tent was broken & the stupid cow was empty (last year we got to "milk" it)- not ideal picture taking conditions.

never the less- we managed to capture the 3 of us in frame & that works for me.

another Deerfield Fair come & gone. good riddance.

time to backtrack- alex's 2nd birthday. i didn't get a ton of pictures because i was trying to actually be part of her party- but i snagged a few for memory sake:

the theme was Charlotte's Web- but that sort of morphed into a Farm/Fair theme. meh. we had a tent & fair food & hay bales & farm animals (well, chickens) & that'll do pig.

the tent: (last minute rental thanks to the rain)


the food:






(pre filled mason jars = genius)



the setups (s):




(the cotton candy machine was a big hit)

the birthday girl (& friends):



(these were literally the most flattering pictures i got of her all day- she was a hot mess)









(internet friend meeting = yay!)

and there you go. thankfully it didn't actually rain at all during the party- but the tent was still nice to have. and no need for chairs if you've got hay bales- those worked out perfectly.
simple food & drink & coloring books & stickers for the kids.

it was pretty low key & we had around 25-30ish people. the actual party ran from 11-2 & that was a good amount of time for little girls who skipped naps.

but afterwards i decided that alex & brynn each get a 1 & 2 year party- then that's it. no more parties until 1st grade (or somewhere in that age range)- even small parties = exhaustion.

lastly- i had a photoshoot this weekend with someone who reads my blog (remember when i was offering free sessions? people took me up on that- woot.)
when she opened the door & i introduced myself she said, "I feel like I already know you from reading your blog!"

oh snap. i was feeling pretty good about that until i managed to drop my camera bag & appear somewhat insane when i couldn't stop babbling about God knows what.
but she didn't kick me out of her house- so i took that as a good sign.

she introduced me to her angelic children (seriously- they were like perfection) & i filled my camera's memory card within 2 hours.

as i was leaving i said something to the effect of "I'd love to say we should hang out but I'm not sure when that's going to happen..."

as soon as i said it i realized how rude i sounded. it's not that i didn't think she was worthy of hanging out with (in fact, that is the very opposite of what i was thinking) it was more so, "i think you're super & i'd love to hang out & i'd love to say i'll call you but i literally have no time to do anything ever!"

i quickly started babbling again, trying to explain this- but i think she understood what i was, horribly, trying to say & very kindly invited me to her daughter's 2nd birthday party.

whew. ok- unitentional offending averted.
she gave me a hug (i was pretty sweaty from taking pictures- so S, if you're reading this, i'm not usually that sweaty. i swear.) a bottle of wine & sent me on my way.

this just proves that i might sound pretty kick ass online (right?) but i can be awkward. painfully awkward- until you get to know me. then you'll be like- "holy crap! she's so kick ass in real life!!!"

i put up a sneak peak on my FB page (which you're totally allowed to go & "Like" by the way) & i'm excited to finish editing & get her session up on my website.

...right- and also as i was leaving she kindly reminded me that i promised to put up pictures of alex's big girl room & i never did.

for shame. she's right. so i need to do that.
i'm going to take pictures this week- i promise. pretty promise.