Puppy Fever and Baby Fever

Somebody had to have walked away with puppy fever or baby fever from Sydney's 5th birthday party!  Wow, that party was like a zoo, and I can say that because they had a petting zoo!  There were adults, goats, children, a puppy, multiple babies, a chicken and its chicks, kiddos, a miniature pony, and a rabbit!  Whew, that was a whirlwind of a party.  I'll post pictures of the babies, goats, and more later.  For now, here are a few pictures from the party.

Meet Brody, the newest addition to Sydney's family (this would be Sam, my husband, holding Brody).  He was soooo asleep, at this point, it was adorable!  Brody is a golden retriever puppy, and he's just a fluff ball right now.

Here is Sydney, the birthday girl with 2 chicks.  At one point, I looked down into the chicken cage, and I could only see the mama bird.  I looked around and didn't see anyone holding a chick, and thought did we loose all of the baby chicks?!!  The answer was no we did not, the mama bird was hovering/sitting on all of her chicks!  She's one smart momma!

The chicks were a huge hit!

Here is Olivia, Sydney's sister, with a little chick.  Olivia is a big animal lover!

Well...my cousin Greg was the only one that didn't really want to hold the cute little babies :)

This was the first family event since Papa's passing in February.  It was great to be together, celebrating happy little Sydney's 5th birthday.  My friends know that Nanny is now living in an assisted memory care, which is great for her.  She is getting a lot more activity, full time care, and making new friends.  It takes time for everyone in the family to adjust to Nanny's new home, and for Nanny's sake, this was the first time that we took her out of her new home.  She did great, and it was nice having her around.  Here's a pic of Nanny and me.

Sophie at 4 Months

Okay so I'm back from Rhea and Jonathan's beautiful wedding in Puerto Rico (sadly I'm back home).  Sam and I were just easing into vacation mode when it was time to go.  Note to everyone out there, if you have a chance to go to a destination wedding stay longer than 3 nights/4days!  Day 1 was arrival and rehearsal dinner, Day 2 was the wedding, Day 3 was vacation, and Day 4 was a little vacay and then pack up and head home.  I can't complain, because we had a wonderful trip, but it would have been nice to stay longer.  Congratulations to Rhea and Jonathan, I love you, and your wedding was a great celebration of the wonderful love you share for one another.

Now onto cutie pie Sophie!  It was really fun being a part of Sean and Naomi's lives for a few hours.  This is one of my favorites!  So sweet!  The little bit of time I got to spend around my neice, Callie, at this age, they make the cutest faces especially when you get up close to their face.  Sophie's little smile along with her mom (and dad too in the background) smiling, makes my heart warm and fuzzy.

This little smile is pretty cute too.  Sophie's eyes are very captivating to me.

Sweet little kiss from Dad

Another one of my favs, pretty much any sort of snuggling with baby picture will be a favorite of mine.

Now that's a happy baby!

Cute Baby Cheeks

Okay Sophie, it's your turn to be on the blog!  You are growing so fast, with cute cheeks and beautiful eyes!  I know you mean the world to your mom and dad!  

You were making some bubbles for this shot, and it's really cute.  You must have been thinking about your next meal : )  Stay tuned for more pictures of Sophie.  Now, I'm off to Puerto Rico to celebrate Rhea and Jonathan's wedding! 

All You Need is Love....and a jacket, scarf, and handwarmers

Okay, I'm back with more pictures from Elizabeth and Jason's engagement session.  I still can't get over how cold it was that day.  It was my coldest shoot to date, so congratulations EQ and Jason you pulled it off looking fabulous.  If you look carefully at the shot I posted in my previous post with their Coca-Cola bottles, you can see chill bumps on Elizabeth's arms.  Sorry!  Elizabeth and Jason were very comfortable in front of the camera, and EQ was a natural!  I had a ton of fun shooting them, we enjoyed all of the beauty of Lake Eden and Black Mountain.  Their guests are sure to have fun on their wedding weekend in this little town.  If any of their guests are interested in exploring Asheville and it's wonderful restaurants, let me know, I can recommend some great eats!

I saw this tree, and told EQ and Jason, we are going to work it!  Trees don't need to have leaves to be beautiful.

 

Another beautiful windy shot

So cute!

I love how they are both so relaxed and EQ's expression is great!

 

The sun finally came out to stay when we were in downtown Black Mountain, and it was awesome!  Thank you EQ and Jason for letting me share in this special time in your lives!

CHEERSPORT Nationals

Okay to hold my followers until my next picture post, I have some fun videos for you to watch from CHEERSPORT Nationals.  I am finishing up the engagement session pictures of EQ and Jason, and then I have 4 month old pictures of Sophie to share with you as well!  Sophie was the newborn I photographed in November and I can't wait to show how beautiful she is and how much she has grown!

Now onto cheerleading, my other passion in life : )  We had our largest Nationals ever with 920 teams!  It was quite amazing!  We added an additional arena 3 weeks prior to Nationals because of our unexpected last minute growth.  We had 5 competition arenas, a 5 acre warm-up arena, and a huge awards arena as well.  So keep in mind, when you watch the videos below that is one arena, and it is duplicated 4 other times to make up the 5 arenas.

Here is one of my favorite Level 5 Routines (there are 6 levels, but Level 6 is for College and Open teams (Open is 14 years and older).   Open teams are for those that want to be cheerleaders forever.  I could compete on an open team, but I have no reason to die at such a young age, my body would hate me for doing that!

Okay, so here is the Senior Large 5 National Champion (this division can have up to 36 females):


Now would be a good time to mention, Jennifer our graphic designer.  When we added our 5th arena 3 weeks before Nationals, she was tasked with creating a new backdrop for us.  I love this backdrop!  It looks so sharp!  She is awesome!

Okay here is another great Level 5 routine, Senior Large Limited Coed 5 (this division is allowed to have up to 36 members with 1 - 4 males).  This video was filmed by a spectator, so you can get that feeling of what it would be like to be in the audience watching:


And one last routine to represent Charlotte Allstars, where I cheered 5th - 12th grade.  Now this was at NCA Nationals in Dallas, TX.  Now, we were nowhere near this level of difficulty, cheerleading has come a long way since I last competed in 2002.  This is a great routine!


I hope you have enjoyed your little glimpse into my world of cheerleading : )  I'll be back soon with pictures!

Sneak Peek: EQ (aka, EQOQ or Elizabeth) & Jason

Okay y'all, I'm back!  I'm sorry for my lack of posts the past 2 months, but CHEERSPORT Nationals was amazing!  We surpassed 900 teams this year!  Which is amazing!  I know I say this a lot, but just in case someone out there doesn't know, CHEERSPORT Nationals is the World's Largest Cheerleading & Dance Competition!  I'll post more about this later, but for now, enjoy a sneak peek of an engagement session I just did.

First, I should probably explain the title of this post.  I went to Wofford with EQ (which is where she  met Jason - I love Wofford couples!).  EQ stands for her first and middle name initials, Elizabeth Quinlin.  Jason's last name is O'Quinn, so EQ's new nickname at work is EQOQ : )  It's already rare to have the letter "Q" as part of their initials, and in a few months she'll have 2 "Q's" in her name!  

EQ and Jason were brave souls this past Friday.  We were supposed to have a morning photoshoot, but we woke up to snow on the ground and some icy cold wind.  Thankfully, they weren't going for the "snowy, winter" look : )  We moved the session to that afternoon, and it was still very chilly!  It was the wind that made it super cold, but the wind also makes for some lovely pictures!

I am in love with this session.  We shot at Eden Lake in Black Mountain, NC, which is where they will be getting married.  It will be a beautiful fall wedding!

I have a lot more pictures to share with all of you, but for now I'll leave you with this cute shot of their Coca-Cola's.

I love you Papa!