Family Pictures December 2012

In December I cashed in on a great Living Social deal and had our pictures taken professionally.  I love snapping pics of my kiddos almost daily--and I will cherish those spontaneous, candid shots forever--but there is something special about having a professional get behind the lens once in awhile. 



Gemma's face in this one is priceless--
Luke and I look so happy...not so much our children.



We typically go the Portrait Innovations route for professional photos, but I couldn't pass up this great deal, and we ended up with so many wonderful memories captured...and a lot less stress {seriously, I am always on the verge of developing an ulcer by the time I walk out of P.I.--"Here, are the 2,394 pictures I took of your children.  Let's narrow it down to five in the next 15 minutes"?!!?  If you've been, you understand}.

Sometimes they just need a hand to hold.

So as not to overwhelm you with too many pictures all at once, I am just posting family pictures in this post.  I will do three other posts--one featuring the kiddos, one of me and Luke, and one of our Christmas pictures.  If pics are not your thing, you may want to skip my next few posts...but this blog is mainly for me to look back on and remember what life was like at different stages of our marriage and family life, and I definitely want to remember this time in my life.





So it was a little bright out...

I want to remember that we had just moved to Colorado a few months earlier. Gemma was almost one, and Augustine was almost three. We chose to have our pictures taken in an open field with a barn a couple miles from our home. It was chilly out but not too cold for the middle of December.

I wish I could bottle up moments like these and keep them forever.

  Gemma started walking just two weeks later, taking her first steps on New Year's Day and never looking back. Augustine's little mind was a sponge that fall/winter, singing his ABC's, identifying colors, counting. Luke had finished fall training with the Rapids a couple weeks earlier and was adjusting to working full time in the office {at home}. I was loving our new home! Few days went by that the kids and I didn't see Aunt Cait, "T," and "Fawicitee."

 

 

We couldn't help but laugh hysterically at Augustine's "smile." 

Every time we said to say, "cheese," he made this face.

 

 We had just gotten home from a great trip to Minnesota to visit with friends and witness the Baptism of our Godson, Dominic.  We drove through the night both ways--it just seems to be easier that way with wee babies...at least a wee baby like mine who really doesn't like her car seat. 

I was wearing a new scarf and new earrings, bought specifically for the pictures--I needed some yellow for our color scheme.  We didn't have a lot of expendable money at that time, and on Christmas morning I realized my hubby had wrapped those items and placed them under the tree for me--clever guy.  Unfortunately, that may have been the last time Gemma let me put a headband on her for more than five minutes without pulling it off. 

 

*Quick disclaimer: uploading these pictures was a huge pain, and I don't know why.  It took forever--no, seriously.  So, I am not even going to bother with trying to fix that random watermark picture(?) or stress about ending all abruptly.  I just need to get onto the next batch of pics!