But first, here is a shot of the beautiful birthday girl!

Alana started off on the swings where I snapped photos in between pushes

Heidi had gotten the cutest princess-themed party stuff from Etsy! 

Party favors!

Bri was helping me with Sierra while I took photos, and I couldn’t resist putting a crown on Sierra too! 

Thank you for letting us be part of your party, sweet Maddy! We love you! 

Amber and I started off by testing our camera settings…and of course we had to get in the mood to be quirky, so why not get started right away?

Then we got started I’d never done Strut with this particular group of friends before and it was an absolute blast. I knew Bri would be a perfect fit because she is a silly, hilarious, super cute person. I have always loved her personality SO MUCH. Here are just a few photos, but if you want to see the rest, click on the link above!

The Strut girls

Briana, you know I love you and I hope that you are enjoying your birthday Strut photos as much as we are. Can’t wait for the next time!

A few weeks ago, the girls and I met up with Brittany and Aston and their kids at the Dotson’s house for a hair cutting lesson. I’d expressed interest in learning how to cut Alana’s hair (and eventually Sierra’s too) and Sara graciously offered to have me over for a lesson since she has experience.

Then Brittany and Aston joined in on the fun and we ended up with a sweet little group of girlies who needed hair cuts and moms who wanted to learn how.

Thank you so much to Brittany for this first photo! First up was little Carson…she didn’t quite know what to think. So cute

Then Sweet Ada was up, and as always, she’s too cute for words. These girls play so well together and just love each other.

Alana was up last and I took a few photos of her turn…

And thank you to Brittany for this image of me with my sweetie pie…

And thank you so much to Grant for coming out of hiding to take this fun group shot

As we were leaving, Alana and Ada gave each other a big hug and I quickly grabbed a couple of shots…these two always melt my heart with how sweet they are.

And thank you again to Sara for all of the great hair cutting tips! We had a great time and are so thankful!

October and November have been particularly busy for us with Rich Smith Photography, which is obviously a very exciting, good thing. But I’m the kind of person who needs to constantly remind myself (or have my husband remind me!) that being busy is GOOD. It all just seems to catch up with me from time to time and I have to cry, complain about how I wish we had more free time, and then I feel better and I’m able to enjoy the blessings in my life. Like having an uber talented photographer for a husband who has been running around photographing engagement sessions and weddings like a crazy person Truly, though, I love this industry and the people in it, I love this job, and I love what we get to do.

Aside from all of this, a much more important topic awaits: the third birthday party of the miniature love of our life. Alana has changed SO much in the past year, we didn’t know what to expect from her with all the birthday attention. Even though she knew all of her birthday party guests very well, it turned out to still be very overwhelming for her to have them all here at once and focused on her. She didn’t seem to know what to do, and was very mellow and cautious throughout the process.

We began by chatting and snacking with family and friends, but by the time she began opening presents, it seemed she was almost in shut-down mode. Kinda funny, with Rich and I as her (extroverted) parents, to have a toddler who is either introverted or perhaps just going through a phase in which she is uncomfortable being the center of attention. We will continue to see her little personality emerge as she grows. Regardless, she was a little apprehensive and not at all overtly giddy with the gift opening.

I got some super cute colors of rock candy for favors for the kids…

Rich started out with Alana opening gifts, and they were so cute together. Thank you SO MUCH to our dear friend Nathan Holritz, who grabbed our camera and offered to shoot while we were opening gifts with Alana. The remainder of these photos are by Nathan!

We ordered some fabulous Gigi’s Cupcakes for the party…and they were a hit. I was excited to learn that there are actually 3 different sizes offered, not just the extra large size (with loads of icing) seen when you visit the store. There is also a medium (“standard”) size that I ordered, and a mini size that can be pre-ordered as well FYI.

I thought for sure Alana would choose the “birthday surprise” cupcake with pink frosting for her cupcake, but she shocked me and chose the “wedding cake” one that is pictured below – it’s all white. Um, does this mean she is growing up WAY too fast or what???

She was equally mellow and unsure about what to do during the singing of the birthday song…

…but with a little encouragement she seemed to enjoy herself  

Um, it’s pretty cute how she blew out her candles…

…and ate her frosting. No, she never even made it to the cake. She filled up on frosting

Happy, happy third birthday baby girl! We could not be more proud of you and we certainly could not love you more!

We had a GREAT turnout…hard to believe there were enough of us to be split into 3 large tables! It was a great time, as usual, and after things wound down, there were just a few of us left chatting out front. Me, Rich, Alana, Brittany and her sweet Ada, and my sis.

In the course of conversation, Brittany had the MOST hilarious and brilliant idea. She semi-jokingly mentioned that it would be fun to have Alana and Ada (who love each other very much) stand together for a photo and have one of them hold out their arm as if they were actually taking the photo. This was a perfectly suited idea since Rich is the self-portrait guru and always manages to capture untold numbers of people in a single shot, arm extended and wide-angle lens utilized.

And so, without any more explanation, check out Alana’s first “self-portrait”…a photo that Rich actually took with his 5D Mark II and 16-35mm lens

PRICELESS, no???

And just for fun, here are some shots of the six of us. The first one is hilarious because Brittany didn’t realize that she was completely blocking Ada from view…

Then she realized and corrected the problem…

Then Brittany and I managed to make the same face without any prompting at all   I adore these photos and the people in them…

And thanks to Brittany for the superb toddler self-portrat idea

She is of the opinion that every baby needs to be celebrated, even if the new baby is the same gender of a previous child. So, even though we have much of what we need because this is another little girl, I was thrilled that she wanted to do something for me anyway!

Saturday morning, some dear friends and family members came to Susan’s home to celebrate Sierra with me! I am 33 weeks pregnant and can’t believe we will have little Sierra at the end of next month! It was an awesome and special shower, and I enjoyed every second.

Before we left the house, Rich took some photos of the girls and I love them! Thank you so much babe!

Here are a few photos that my sister grabbed and I am so thankful that she did! Thank you Amber!!!

AMAZING cakes made from scratch by Susan. To. Die. For. Not to mention all of the other incredible food that was in abundance! Randy and Susan are amazing in the kitchen. Everything they touch tastes like heaven. Thank you also to my sis, and mother-in-law, and Briana for delicious food and drinks.

And thank you to Rich for the group photo! Amber Holritz had already left but everyone else who came is included. I SO missed some friends and family who could not come due to sickness Thank you so much to Susan and the other amazing friends and family who helped to make this such a SPECIAL day for me. I am blessed beyond measure.

But she’s been brainstorming about what would make an equally perfect gift for her slightly older little clients, like 3 year old Mia, who’s birthday party she photographed last Saturday. About a month ago while we were hanging out, Amber mentioned that Mia loves kitchens, and that maybe a handcrafted apron would make a great gift. I was totally on board with her idea and was excited when she asked me to sew a couple of them for her.

Using my dear friend Kellie’s toddler girl apron pattern, this is what I made:

Cute, right?

But wait, it gets WAY better. She then had Tobi customize them and check out HOW MUCH CUTER they became!!!

What a FUN collaboration, Tobi! It’s been waaaay too long since I’ve crafted, and honestly, this little project made me miss it sooooo much!

Thanks for letting me be a part of this super fun idea, Amber! I hope Mia has many fun days ahead wearing her aprons and playing in her kitchen

xoxoxo girls!
Heather

Alana was super excited about roasting marshmallows for the first time, and had picked out some pink (strawberry) ones from the store to bring along with us. They sounded gross to me, but hey…pink is a girls best friend

This is Alana’s camera shirt that I just found (and slightly freaked out over) at Baby Gap…and I found it wonderfully appropriate for a photographer get together. When she wears it, she says, “I’m a ‘tographer, just like daddy!”

She observed the adults roasting marshmallows for a little while before deciding she was ready to try. But as you can see from her mouth, she wasn’t hesitant to taste a couple of them first.

And even then she wasn’t too sure about it

Thanks so much to my honey for these photos, by the way! It’s so much fun to have “first reactions’ captured on film!

Alana decided that she liked roasted marshmallows, but likes them even better when they are not!  Thanks so much to the Dotson’s for the wonderful evening! We always love hanging out with you guys – photography related or not!

I think it’s been a combination of feeling crummy, being exhausted, being busy, and for some reason, simply not feeling like it! As much as I love to blog, there are some times that I just need a break…this entire pregnancy seems to have been a break from blogging!

But tonight I got the itch. I miss it, and I have several sets of photos to blog from the past month. I will probably only post one blog tonight, but stay tuned in the next few days for some more! It’s been a crazy busy month with some moments of fun and lots of blessings.

Early in the month, Alana and I headed to the Mayfield Dairy Farms for some fall fun with Bri/Trevor/Rye, & Heidi/Kyle/Avery/Maddie. Rich could not come because he had a photo shoot, so we went along without him (I am hoping for a family trip to another pumpkin patch in the next couple of weeks)

It was the middle of the day with bright harsh sunlight, which is just a nightmare for trying to take decent photos, but I really wanted to document Alana’s first ever trip on a hayride to a pumpkin patch. And so, I don’t have great photos, but they make me happy anyway! We had a great time, and while I wish the weather had been cooler, it was still a blast!

We started off with a picnic lunch and I grabbed some photos of the kids with their heads stuck through this goofy pumpkin thing

There was a huge box full of sunflower seeds for the kids to play in…

And one full of corn…

There was a huge tire mound with sand…

Thanks to Kyle for this photo of me and Alana  

A “hay jump” (a trampoline covered with hay and surrounded on all sides by huge hay bales). 

Wagons…

More hay!

A hayride…

…to the pumpkin patch! 

I sat back and let Alana choose her favorite pumpkin. She knew she wanted a small one, but she was surprisingly particular! She wandered around, saying “no, no, no” to several small ones until she came across this one…the perfect pumpkin for her

Back on the hayride with her pumpkin, and ready to go home…it’s been a great day!

The only disappointment was that the snow cone was served in a boring styrofoam cup rather than a super cute pointy-snowcone-paper-thing. What are those things called, anyway? Ha!

Here are a few photos that I grabbed of Alana with her first snow cone. Strawberry, to be exact. And she loved it

Happy Tuesday, everyone! I know, I know, it’s been feast or famine around here, but thanks for tolerating my blog posting inconsistency!