Happy Halloween!

Wasn't he the cutest Toodah ever? I wanted to make sure I got this down... This is how Gabe sang trick or treat:

"Twicked or Tweet, smell my feet, give me somefing good to eat. If you not, I don't care, I'll pull my underwear down!"

He learned this from his buddy Will last year, and this year he started singing it again. It was so funny! We had a great Halloween. Gabe and his friend, McCarthy (my BFF's grandson), went trick or treating together. We drove them around in the suburban, or as I like to call the "super ban". We had a really great time. It was another one of those moments where I just stopped for a minute and remembered a time when I wondered if I'd ever be doing this. If I'd ever hear a child say, "C'mon, Mom! Let's go to diss house!" My heart was warmed so much by this excited little guy tonight.

After trick or treating, we headed over to Poke's house for the 6th Annual Hurloween. Gabe and I stayed for supper and visited for a bit, and Daddy stayed to hang out with the guys. Gabe had a busy day today, so he pretty much crashed as soon as his head hit the pillow. Hurloween was fun... I had a really nice compliment from Poke about my photography. We love Poke and Cari. They are great friends and it's nice to know we've got an ongoing get together each year with such great people.

Well, I have to say, shocked... two posts in two days?! Wowza!

Oh, and.......... we're leaving for Disney in 7 days!!!!!!!!

Yes, We're Still Here!

Ok, so I've been like the worst blogger ever. I haven't updated in so long. Life has been so busy for us lately. Fall has been CRAZY busy. My photography business has really been picking up - I already have 2 weddings for the beginning of next year. And, when I say next year, I mean I have one on January 1st and the other on January 2nd! One of them is rather small, so it shouldn't be too much work, but the other one will be a full day. Am I nuts? Yes, I think so. The good news is, I'm learning more and more with each session that I take and I'm liking each session better than the one before.

Ok, now onto the Gabers! He's really growing and changing so much. He's saying things like "I have an idea!" or "I pet Jinxi so she more comfortable!". He is doing great potty training. We still put a diaper on him at night, but daytime, he never has accidents. Right now, he's REALLY into his M.A.S.K. guys. M.A.S.K. is a cartoon Greg used to watch when he was little. Honestly, the animation is pretty crappy, but Gabe (and Greg!) love it. I love watching Gabe play with Greg's old toys. Greg's mom had saved some of them and gave them to Gabe. He just loves them.

This year for Halloween, Gabe is going to be Woody from Toy Story. He looks SO adorable in his costume! We took him out to my mom and dad's tonight since my mom has to work tomorrow. He even sang, "Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat... if you don't, I don't care, I'll pull down your underwear!" But Gabe says, "if you not, I don't care, I'll pull my underwear down!" Too funny.

Well, I did just want to get an update out there because it's been almost 2 months exactly since I've posted. I'll try harder. I'll make it a priority, I promise!! :)

Life is good.

He says he wants to be a "copper". (aka cop) and he won't give Mommy and Daddy any tickets! It's so cute, he'll say "When Gabe grows up, Gabe be a copper and no tickets Mommy and Daddy."

Recently, things have been getting busier for Gabe's Mom. I had 2 sessions this week, then I've got 2 senior sessions next week and already 2 lined up for the beginning of September. I know it doesn't seem like much, but to me, it's a lot! AND, senior sessions are my FAVORITE. Seniors are so much fun to work with. They'll do anything for you. You don't have to constantly fight to get their attention, bribe them with candy, threaten bedtime, etc... (gee, guess who was a difficult photo subject today!?)

Life is good right now. Busy, but good. I'm enjoying my new business a lot, my Gabers has been having many less tantrums, and Greg's been home quite a bit lately. Life is good.

Love him.

Just love this kid. That's all I gotta say.

Smith-Nandez Weekend!

So, it's a big weekend! My little sister, Jenny and her fiance, Rene are getting married! I am so looking forward to seeing my little sister marry the man of her dreams. Rene has been a real joy to get to know and I'm very happy to have him as a brother in law. When we ask Gabe who's getting married, he says, "Jenny and Uncle Ney". It's pretty cute.

I'm a little worried about a few things... Um, I have a solo, Gabe's a ringbearer.... and I have no idea how he'll behave, and I don't know what to do about my camera! I certainly want to take it with me to take some pictures, but I don't like a couple of things about that - It's not a camera you can just throw in your purse. I'll need to take my flash. I don't want to be one of those people that's in the photographer's way. Although I love my "big camera" (as most people call it!) It's not always convenient when going on vacation with a kiddo, or going to a wedding. I'm still going to take it, and just deal. :o)

So, it should be a pretty fun weekend. Congratulations, Jenny & Rene! I hope this day is full of wonderful memories!

my reasons for lack of blogging.....

Life as we know it:

• Gabe's Dad gone on 2 week long business trips
• a bachelorette party
• 1 or 2 photography sessions each week
• a toddler full of energy
• processing pictures until I go to bed
• IM's
• Tiredness
• Nonstop at work
• No smoking (never promise something on your kid... especially when life gets stressful!)
• Nearly late to work every morning (I swear Gabe knows when I'm running late)
• 2 weddings down, 2 to go
• Did I mention tiredness?
• Dental appointments

Ok, now there have been some really great things happening too:

• Gabe and I have really been bonding more - cooking together, laughing a lot, reading books (Love You Forever is our favorite right now)
• I'm totally engrossed in the Twilight series and I can't stop reading at night
• Gabe and I have the following conversation:

Me: I'll love you .....

Gabe: Foreber.

Me: I'll like you....

Gabe: for alldays

Me: and as long as I'm living, my....

Gabe: baby we'll be!

Reading this book to my boy nearly makes me cry every time. I always sway him towards that one when he nods his head and says, "Mom, just one more book?" Well, ok.....

My little Gabey, I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, and as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be.

All my love,

Mommy.

Dress Shopping

We got to go dress shopping with my younger sister Jenny yesterday. It was so much fun watching her try on the beautiful dresses. We couldn't believe it, but she ended up purchasing the first one she tried on! She looked absolutely stunning in it. We also picked out the bridesmaid dresses yesterday too. They are chocolate brown with a hint of champagne color. Sorry, but no peeking!

Because the bridal store was AWESOME, I was able to practice taking some wedding pictures there. So, I just took some random shots and thought I'd post them. NONE of the dresses you see here are Jenny's dress OR our bridesmaid dresses. Sorry! No peeking!

How in the world do people choose a flower girl dress? There are so many to choose from and they are all so adorable! When we got married 7 years ago, we had a friend of the family make the dresses, so we didn't even look at them in the store. I would've been overwhelmed.

I just loved the detail on this dress... just gorgeous!

Same with this one... When I got married, SO many of the dresses had a big bow on the butt! Thank goodness the dress makers are realizing that the last things that brides want on their wedding day is a big ol' behind!

We just had a great time with Jenny and her fiance's family. They are terrific people who love Jenny very much. It makes me so happy to see her so happy. I love that even though she lives farther away, she still has a great support system nearby. I am looking forward to getting to know Rene's family even more as we plan for this special day!

PS: Did I mention that Gabers is the ring bearer??

Gabers Mini Photo Session

One of my favorite things to do is to just grab the Gabers and go on a spontaneous photo shoot. Usually we take Daddy with us too so he can help me get Gabe's attention. Today, we went out to a farm and got some neat photos of Gabe by a wrought iron fence and in one of my dad's bean fields. He looked so ready for fall today in his brown courdoroy jacket. My little boy is growing up so fast. People say that happens, and some days it feels like they just grew by leaps and bounds over night.

I like this one - I just hope this is the only time I ever see him behind bars! :) I love the look on his face too.

Here, Gabe is tasting the beans to see if they're ready for harvest yet. We had to call PaPa tonight to let him know Gabe probably owes him some money for the beans! Gotta tease that PaPa.

I so wish I lived at this house - I love the wrought iron fence and the serenity of the place.

My lovely assistant, Greg, is doing his very best to get Gabe to smile for me. The tickley things work really well!

One of my favorites. My happy boy in the bean field getting ready for harvest. I can't wait to see him in the tractor with PaPa.

The little man.

And another favorite. Daddy taught Gabe how to pick flowers today - "you don't pick off just the petals - you pick them down lower and then give them to Mommy!" It was too cute to watch.

Weekend Recap

We had a pretty nice weekend. It started out Friday night with a dinner for Gabe with his PawPaw, Papa, Uncle Dan, and his two Abbas. We had them over to celebrate Gabe's adoption anniversary. We had a really nice time. I fixed lasagna, salad, and an apple pie (frozen, but hey, it was still yummy!). Greg's mom brought some cucumbers in vinegar and homemade pretzels. My mom brought deviled eggs and star cupcakes.

Even though we didn't expect any gifts, both sets of grandparents brought Gabey a present. PawPaw and Abba got him an awesome Handy Manny tool set - which he loves! We have now learned the Handy Manny "Hop Up Jump In" theme song forwards and backwards! He has been playing with that all weekend. Papa and Abba got him a tractor with dual rear tires, oh, and it ALSO makes noise! He loved that too. Most of all, he just had a blast with his grandparents, which was what the whole evening was about. He entertained them all by saying, "ah happy!" several times, as well as yelling, "MommmmEEEE" when I went in the kitchen to get him a hotdog. I guess he's not a fan of lasagna.

Saturday, we played with his new toys and in the afternoon Gabe's Dad let me get groceries and do a little scrapbook shopping. It was nice to get groceries by myself and take my time. I also got some SWEET scrapbooking things that I'd had my eye on. We had pizza for supper and then watched Prom Night - kinda lame, but we watched the whole movie.

Today, I met with the engaged couple whose wedding I'll be photographing. I was really nervous about this meeting. Once I got there though, things went very smoothly. I liked the couple and I felt very confident in stating my responsibilities for the wedding day. Both were very nice and even took me to the site of the wedding so I could get a feel for what I'd be in for that day. I was actually quite relieved when I saw the site. It looks like we'll have plenty of light and we'll be right near downtown, so we may even be able to take some outdoor shots if the weather is nice enough.

Oh, and here we are with our Gabers:

Wish I Might

In an effort to do more of what I love, I am turning my hobby of taking photographs into a small business... when I say small, I mean I'm just starting out! Right now, I am in the process of creating my portfolio. I'd love it if you readers would view some of my portfolio photos HERE to provide any comments/feedback to this new photographer! I just love taking pictures so much, that I decided I would try and make it official. I have a self-proclaimed "geek" for a husband, so he's going to help me build a website. There are so many steps in doing this, I know it's way off before it's official, but hey, I have a logo! Would you like to see it?? Twist my arm... Ok here it is:

Thanks for checking out my pics! I'll keep you all updated on the progress. Thanks to all of you who have encouraged me so far - You have given me the confidence to do something with what I absolutely love.