I know this is way late, what can I say…things have been a little busy around here! How quickly time goes by, every year faster than the one before, and now my first born is a first-grader. I thought it would be easier leaving her that first day (I cried when she started Kindergarten), but I still got that familiar lump in my throat and Brandon even commented as we walked through the halls “Will it ever be easy to leave her?”. I think I have my answer, and it is no…even when she is ten or twenty or forty-five she will always be that tiny baby girl we cradled so carefully for the first time and it will hurt our hearts just a little to watch her walk away.

Here are a few of my favorites from Meet the Teacher night, and the first day of first grade.

Finley was super excited to find out that her friend Julie from last year is in her class!

Her sweet teacher Mrs. H.

Reagan walking her big sister up to school

Sweet sisters and best friends

Ready to hit the ground running!

The note I put in her lunch-bag (the second day, because I forgot the first day!)

and on Friday as she finished out the first week of first grade

A couple weeks ago when we were in the middle of a triple digit heat wave my youngest wanted to go outside and play with sidewalk chalk. She can be so persuasive sometimes, so outside we went and boy was it hot but I took my camera with me and that helped keep my mind off it a little.

She has some of the funniest expressions!

Every day when I get my daughter up in the morning or after her nap I say to her “Hi Baby”, and she always says back to me “Hi Baby”. She really is so sweet!

I can’t believe how long it has taken me to post these pictures…better late than never I guess. It is also hard to believe that my baby turned two in May! Time sure does fly by, and I think it goes faster with the second child than it did with the first.

I took my girls down to a nearby pond on a Sunday morning a few weeks back to see what neat spots we could discover. I wanted some updated pictures of the two of them to use in making some gifts for Father’s Day. Here is a sneak peek at what we found.

All last week there was a thick layer of gorgeous yellow leaves under the trees surrounding the duck pond near our house, and all week I planned to take my two girls there on Saturday morning for pictures. Guess what? The lawn crew sucked them all up with their mowers on Friday. I was so bummed! I kept my fingers crossed that a new blanket of leaves would magically appear the next morning, but it was not to be. We did our pictures anyway, and there were a few leaves on the ground but it really didn’t matter that there weren’t piles of them…it was my beautiful daughters that stole the show.

I remember loving field trips when I was little, and I remember my mom coming along with us and how much fun it was to have her with me “at school”. Yesterday was my daughter’s very first field trip, and I wasn’t going to miss it for anything! We went to a local farm that has a pumpkin patch as well as a few other activities for the kids this time of year. I took my camera and took as many pictures as I could while holding my 17 month old, who I also brought with me. As you can imagine I ended up with some camera shake (it is hard enough to keep that camera steady without having to hold a toddler too!), but I ended up with some shots that I love as well (most I took when I was able to put my toddler down for a few minutes). Here is a peek at what our day was like at the local pumpkin patch!

On a windy day recently we bought our daughter her first kite, then headed to a local park to try it out. I took some pictures of little sister as she watched, she was so adorable in her pretty little dress. Here is a peek at my favorites from the day…

My oldest recently turned five and I thought of the perfect way to celebrate in pictures…what says “birthday” more than balloons?! I had to buy her a picture balloon as a bribe so that she would let the other ones go when I was ready. It couldn’t have turned out better, and I couldn’t be happier with the results! Here are a few of my favorites…

There are three beautiful trees in our front yard that I have been wanting to take pictures of for awhile. The way they are staggered is so perfect, so interesting, and something I notice almost everyday. Of course I needed a subject (besides the trees) and my daughter was more than happy to oblige. I love the results! What do you think?

On our recent trip to Texas I had the opportunity to do a session with these two adorable little girls, my daughter and her cousin. The girls were born only eight months apart and I just know they will be the best of friends growing up. Aren’t they so sweet in their matching outfits?! My daughter is generally a very smiley little girl but in these pictures she had that same funny frown the entire time. For awhile she totally refused to even look at me. Isn’t that hilarious?