What's been up with us?

I'll tell you! :-)

First, I'm now a horrible blogger lol. I'm just too dang busy! And now with my internet phone I don't get on my laptop except to edit photos, and blog posts are a pain from my phone. So yeah, once again find me on instagram for the multiple pictures a day haha  http://instagram.com/nopaparazziplease

Second, lately I've spent a lot of time preparing/shopping for food because just over 2 weeks ago I went complete Paleo ---actually, even a little more restrictive than Paleo b/c I'm doing the auto-immune version for my arthritis. No idea what Paleo is? Check this out Beginners Guide  I've lost weight as an added bonus but am mainly doing it because the Paleo lifestyle has been shown many times to help autoimmune diseases, even help cancer! I'm generally not a super "crunchy" person but lately I'm all about trying whatever is going to keep me around my girls the longest ;-) And after just 2 weeks of not a single cheat (an occasional cheat wouldn't kill a normal person, but one bite of a cheat can set a person with autoimmune disease back months....so needless to say I don't cheat!) but I am no longer craving sweets, etc. like I used to. Not a single processed food or refined sugar has crossed my lips and I feel great. My wrist is still bothering me but I know part of that is the constant use for my photography and editing.

Third, I'm preparing like crazy for going back to work....I start work on Monday! My head is already spinning with all the info being thrown at me lol. I'm super excited to start back though and officially tired of the SAHM gig lol...I've run out of things to do at home that don't cost money and keep the girls from driving me crazy ;-) Brielle starts daycare on Friday and Raya starts her in-home sitter on Monday, and then Kindergarten on the 13th!

Although the girls have been driving me a little batty, we still have fun---here are some recent pics

Successful dentist trips






Snuggles



"Mama, my eye hurts! I was doing this and my eye hurts"

"Okay, well don't do that then."


Fourth, been doing tons of photography! Recently changed my business a little so that during the school year I focus on only doing photography of children ages 5 and under. Since I'm only doing photography a couple days a month when I'm working this will help me narrow things down a little because I was having to turn lots of people away. I'm booked until November already! Then during the summer when I'm off work I will open it up to some family sessions.

Here are some favorite photos I've taken recently

Fashionistas

Just a phone dump of what we've been wearing :)

My Pretty Girls

The other day I had my backdrops set up for a client and the girls just happened to look adorable (I know, surprising right? hehe) so I took a couple quick shots

 

Pint-size Diva

That face my friends, is why wherever we go she wins hearts haha. No one can resist the big blue eyes !

Lucky for me though I have two pretty little ladies <3

Fair!

In case you didn't see, I did go back and add words to my previous two posts from the other day :-)

Last night we had a cousin sleepover---aren't they cute?


Sawyer's always a popular guy around here--they fight over him! #ladiesman #toobadtheyarerelated



And today we went to the fair! Got the kids ride bracelets and they rode rides all afternoon :-)

Brielle said it was too sunny, as always lol


Raya continues to be extremely nervous about rides in general. It's just her cautious personality I think! She only sits on the bench for the carousel now (doesn't sit on the horses) and she didn't like the big slide (even though she say on my lap---bawled the whole way down lol). They had to stop the little motorcycle ride b/c the motorcycle did a tiny "wheelie" and it scared her and she cried (even though 2 year olds were on it just fine lol)...but she rode the little train, cars, and did the mirror mazes lots of times so she managed to get her monies worth out of the ride bracelet on the couple things that didn't terrify her! ;-)  Brielle on the other hand loved it all and would get really mad if she wasn't tall enough to go on something!




And here are a couple recent facebook posts that were funny:

"Everything is so bored! Toys are bored and playing is bored. I'm just going to lay here and be boring!" Lol


At lunch just now Brielle said "mama, when you talk to Raya and cuddle Raya it makes me sad...it makes me sad and jealous to see you do that" seriously, she's master manipulator lol!!!


Came home from my photo session and found this...


That's all for tonight---don't miss my previous updates! :-)

Swimming lessons

So last week the girls started swimming lessons. This year Raya moved up to the bigger kid level and she's doing great! It's 2 weeks long so tomorrow will be her last day. She's a people pleaser/goodie-2-shoes so she always rocks any kind of lessons. Does exactly what she's told, tries her best, and makes friends pretty easily. It's really fun to watch her!

And she was particularly pumped that I found a 2-piece swimsuit that fits her...Hanna Andersson brand. I got it on the end of season clearance so the price was great and the butt coverage is amazing for this bootylicious child ;-)

 

 Here was the best my phone could do, zoomed in to see Raya in class :-)

 

 

And then Miss Brielle. Well, this was her very first year of lessons. She loves to swim and has no fear of water, but I knew she'd be majorly pissed off when I didn't come in to lessons. Remember gymnastics? Yeah, the child isn't a big fan of being left haha.

 

But she talked good game on the way to lessons....she was pumped 

 

 Surprisingly we got to lessons and she was hesistant, but I took her to a young girl swimming teacher (she says she only likes girls!) and Brielle took her hand and walked into class without any tears...I was shocked! So I stayed and visited for about 10 minutes out front before walking around to watch her through the fence. When I got there I saw this:

 

 

Yeah, she started crying immediately upon getting in there and I didn't know it haha. Oops. She was screaming "I want my Mama!!" and after about 15 minutes the teacher brought her over to the fence, where Brielle latched on to the fence trying to get to me. I pried her fingers off and told them that she loved swimming and was just being stubborn, so they kept her in there kicking and screaming. And guess what? With 10 minutes left in the class she was suddenly swimming and smiling and oh so happy that she had a very attentive teacher all to herself lol. Guess there's no need to pay for private lessons---Brielle knows how to play the cute, "i'm so little" card lol. She did great the rest of the week....no crying, but I'd often see the teacher pick her up and carry her around....no doubt those big blue eyes and long lashes were working their magic ;-)

 

Hard work crying at the first class---passed out on the way home! hehe

 

 Here she was, giving a thumbs up before day 2---she was ready!

 

Day 2 ---in line so nicely waiting to go down the slide!

 

 Yay for no crying on day 2!

 

Raya did well every day---good job! 

 

I continue to take them to the wading pool though b/c it's free and easy! lol.  

 

Post swimming treats!