Our first born has officially turned four!  We celebrated by torturing ourselves and having TWO birthday parties!  One for little friends, and one for family members.  Maybe we should just buy a bigger house rather than host two parties???

For Emma’s little friends party, we had a puppet show.  I wasn’t the best puppeteer, but we managed.  Luckily preschoolers and toddlers aren’t too tough.  Brooke did interrupt the show by taking my puppet off my hand, but other than that little fiasco, things went great.  Then the kiddos made paper bag puppets and played with the puppet theater.  By the way, this puppet theater belonged to my sister-in-law, Emily, and her siblings when they were little, so it’s pretty well loved!

After, we ate cake!  Here are some of Emma’s party pictures.  And, if you want to know some good gifts for a four-year-old girl, email me!  Our family and friends found the greatest presents!

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I did not make this super cute cake or cupcakes.  I took this year off from baking and went with my mom’s advice and got this cake at Shopper’s in Annapolis.  It was a great deal, and even better cake!

I just finished reading It’s Sharing Day to my oldest daughter Emma.  But right before that, I was actually benefiting from what Dora preaches in her book…SHARING!  I just got off the phone with Ryan Swigert from Darkroom Branding.  Wanna know how I found out about Ryan?  Through Twitter!  I used to think Twitter was for techie nerds like my husband, but not so! (or I’ve just become a techie nerd, too)

Anyway, back to the topic of sharing.  Ryan offered, via his “tweets,” a 15-minute consultation for FREE on marketing goals and the business side of photography.  It was totally awesome and I am indebted to him for his knowledge, friendliness, and honesty.  He had me fill out a quick questionnaire and then we set up a 15-minute phone call to talk about his ideas for my business and my personal goals.  Basically he just pointed me in the correct direction.  Thanks Ryan!  I know how to take the photos, but Ryan reminded me that I want my photography to be an experience, not just a service.  He helped me realize that to set myself apart from others, I need to be offering photo sessions where I am real with my clients, where we connect, and where they and I both feel we’ve become friends, rather than just client & photographer.  He’s dead on!  We chatted about a few other things as well, and I will definitely be incorportating them into my business plan.

And lastly, I just had to throw out there a book that he mentioned reading.  I haven’t had the chance to read it yet, seeing as I just got off the phone with him 30 minutes ago, but the book is called Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi.  From the small amount I’ve read about it, this book is about the importance of networking and connecting with people and it’s vitality to success.  I’ll let you know what I find out when I read it.

So come look me, and Ryan, up on Twitter.  Happy Tweeting!

Yesterday my oldest daughter turned four!  It’s hard to believe that four short years ago she was born!  And, it’s even harder to believe how much she’s changed!  She’s gone from a helpless infant, to a semi-independant four-year-old.  I hardly ever take a group of photos just dedicated to my children, so Emma & I decided to do just that yesterday for her birthday.  She donned her prettiest dress (that still fits…barely!), put in her favorite hair clip, and we went out front and snapped away.  I feel very luck to even have gotten as many photos of her as I did.  Since I’ve been taking her photo for four years now, she has a low tolerance for my camera.  Here is Emma Rose on her fourth birthday!

Thanks to Cousin Jennifer to playing with Emma during her “photo session” and helping her smile.  And thanks to our neighbors, Jack & Colleen, for unknowingly letting us use your stone garden…it makes the loveliest backdrop!  (You should visit Jack’s nursery if you want some awesome landscaping too!)

Happy Birthday, my love Emma!

*Don’t worry Mom, I’m still the only woman for Josh.  Read on and you’ll understand.*

Josh has always been a coffee drinker.  When we registered for our wedding, we signed up for a Krupps Espresso/Coffee Maker combination.  We used it about 10 times, then I proceeded to accidentally break most of the moveable parts.  Then we switched to a cheap, regular coffee maker with a timer on it.  The idea was for me to make Josh’s coffee the night before and have it set to brew as he woke up.  You know, like those Folgers commercials…”The best part of waking up, is Folger’s in your cup!!!”  That worked, until I either forgot to make the coffee, or Josh forgot to take it with him.  So we just kept the coffee pot around for gatherings for our guests.  Well, the day before the “big snow,” we went to Target and invested in a Keurig Coffee Maker.  It’s one of those machines where you put the little “K-Cup” in the top, press it down, push a button, and by some miracle, it brews a single cup of coffee!  It’s perfect for my husband, because I don’t drink coffee, he does, and can still quickly make one for himself before he heads out the door to work.  He also discovered there are a variety of teas and hot chocolates available as well.  He accidentally ordered two 50 packs of tea and hot cocoa, so if you’re ever in the neighborhood, stop by for a cup!  I know the Keurig will never replace his love for me, but it comes in a close second, especially on these cold winter mornings!

My dad and sister, Maggie, came over to snap some more pictures of Maggie’s 4-month-old daughter, Leah.  It was probably the worst time of day as far as lighting goes, but it was definitely one of Leah’s best times.  She kept cooing and giggling and make some cutesy expressions as my dad tickled her belly.  Here are some of her little baby faces.  (Oh, and for those relatives of Leah’s who are out of town, you can click here to see all of the photos of her from in the belly to now.  This is where I’ll keep adding her pictures.)