Miles: 2 Years Old

Our little Miles Jay turned 2 on March 22nd and I don't think words can explain how much I'm in love with this little boy. From the day he was born, he has always been a mama's boy....and I love it.
Miles is full of personality and has become quite the chatter box these days. I love listening to him practice new words. At times, I feel like his little interpreter as he often spouts off phrases that vaguely resemble a sentence but I know what he means:)

Here's Miles' life in a nutshell at the moment:
-Still obsessed with anything sports. His throwing and catching abilities continue to improve. You can catch a quick video of his skills here. He also loves basketball, football and hockey.
-In addition to being a mama's boy, he's also a papa's boy. He sure loves his grandpas.
-Doing well in the toddler room at daycare. Loves his teachers and his friends.
-Speaking of which....He has a little girlfriend at daycare named Addison and he calls her his 'buttercup'. He has to give her a hug and a kiss each day when he leaves. Most.adorable.thing.ever.
-Working on 4 new molars, which have made for some difficult nights lately
-Has the chubbiest, most kissable cheeks which I love to kiss until he says 'no more mooches mom'
-Loves trying to keep up with big sister Kate and continues to work on his sharing with her
-Has a memory like none other. Repeats things over AND over. Like the time I sent 'baby' socks with him to grandma's house.....now every time I pull out socks he has to shake his finger at me and say 'No baby socks mom'
-Will hopefully begin potty training soon. He shows interest but for some reason, I find potty training a boy so much more intimidating than a girl.
Other than that, a typical 2 year old boy. Acting more like a big boy each day and less like my little baby....sigh, where does the time go??

I'll leave you with a photo shoot I did for Miles' invitations for his 2nd birthday. To sum it up, it was a chaotic, hot mess (literally). I was sweating profusely, trying everything possible to get him to smile. My little assistant Kate was frantically waving her arms, shouting 'Miles buddy, smile at mommy'....which was great but her little arms were in half my shots....so I leave you with the very few shots that were salvageable:)

And this my friends....sums up how Miles felt about the photo shoot...hilarious

Christy's 30th Birthday

When I was approached by my best friend Christy's husband, Bryan, to help him throw a surprise 30th birthday for her, two thoughts came to mind:
1) She is going to kill me if I do this
2) Ah what the hell, she'll get over it:)

Well with the help of some of Christy's fabulous friends (and of course Bryan) we were able to keep it a secret and surprised her a couple Saturdays ago. As Christy stated 'I hated the first 10 minutes of it, but then loved it!' So Christy:)

We held it in the basement of Tav on the Ave. There was definite concern on how we would get her there, let alone get her to come in the basement and not be suspicious. Initially, the plan was Christy's mom was going to invite them out to her house for supper and Bryan would find an excuse to stop at the Tav on the way out. Then fear struck me.....'What if she thinks she's only going to her mom's for supper and decides to be super casual and is wearing...gasp...sweatpants!?!?!' I mean, she was going to kill us all for throwing this party in the first place but if she discovered this was all going on and I allowed her to wear sweatpants to the party....who knows what would have went down.

The party planners quickly devised a plan and with some trickery from Bryan and Christy's mom, they were able to make a change of plans and made a last minute decision to go out to eat at.
The Tav was packed, which teed up a perfect reason for them to be sitting in the basement....and the rest....well I'll let the photos do the talking:)

The moment she realized it was more than just dinner

Terror/Joy....it was a range of emotions. Poor Grayson couldn't see a darn thing that was going on due to the hat:)

Pictures strung on twine and attached to old barn wood

The.best.cake.ever! Christy's friend Rachel made it and words cannot describe. It was like a better than sex cake plus gooey toffee center and was just so damn moist. (sidenote, Christy, i know you hate the word moist but you must agree!!)

The room was adorned with photos such as this one....such a gem!

Ben and Mary

Randi and Ashley

Trisha Marie Stierlen Sizer and Matt

Anne, Bibbs and Rach

Jeff and Aleta

My sister Emily and Chris

Jay, Rico (ryan) and Ben

My sister and I

Shot time with the Taylor girls

The possibilities of what these two are discussing are endless.....:)

Love them. Mother/Daughter

Christy and Rachel

Me and the birthday girl

Anne, my fellow party planner. Anne, you make me want to hit a tanning salon, stat.

Rachel and Anne

Jay and I

Amanda and Christy

Krystal and Joe (Christy's brother)

Jess and Zach

The McCormicks, Blickems and yours truly

Too many too name....but they all coordinated well!

Bryan and Christy

The necklace Kate made for the birthday girl

This picture is hilarious....I look like I'm grabbing Matt's ass

Movie Club Girls: Sarah, Christy, Me, Aleta

Shots were flowing all night. In the words of Jimmy Fallon and Channing Tatum 'Ew!' To complete your life, view the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIhU3mQTp1U

Trisha Marie Stierlen Sizer, Matt and Ninja Christy

They may kill me.....way late in the night.

It was a fabulous time and so glad everyone came out to celebrate the wonderful Christy. Love you Jill and so glad your birthday came after mine:)

My New Hobby: Photography

For the past couple years I've been dreaming of making the leap from a normal point and shoot camera to something a little more quality. Being the cheap ass that I am, I never made the leap....but this past Christmas my hubby (with the guidance of a very good friend *cough* christy *cough*) purchased me the best Christmas gift ever. A Canon Rebel T3. I have since been in heaven. And to top it off, I got a pretty sweet lens, a new bag and a camera strap to go with it...courtesy of my mother in law and Christy. Score!

In addition to the actual camera, I've gained some invaluable advice from Christy who has taught me pretty much everything I know. I was even lucky enough to tag along on a wedding shoot with her. Such a great learning experience and I'm so excited to see how I grow.

I'm just so grateful I now have the tools to capture some really amazing photos of my kiddos and maybe take a few photos here and there for friends and family. Plus, I was in need of a new hobby and its nice to have this creative outlet. Here's a few shots I've taken over the past couple months.

My teacher, my bff, my beautiful subject....honored to take her headshots:)