Sarah's Maternity Photo Shoot

Last Saturday, I got to do one of my favorite things: pretend to be a professional photographer and take pictures of my sister! I have been playing this game since Sarah was about seven years old, and over the years she has been a sometimes willing and sometimes reluctant subject.  Since Tripp will be arriving in a few weeks, I talked her into letting me take some maternity shots, you know, to record this experience for my sweet nephew.  The girls and I loaded up and headed to City Park in search of beautiful backdrops for our photos.  This first one is my favorite artistically...

We spent about an hour and a half taking pictures and ended up with almost 400 images.  This blog post includes 14 of those, three of which feature Stella and Cille, so that should tell you that I am not quitting my day job over this.  I narrowed the choices down to my 74 "favorites" and Sarah weeded them down to this smaller group of photos.  (I sneaked a couple of my favorites in, too!  Don't tell her!)

Sarah is 35 weeks pregnant in these pictures.  She is due October 27th...

We love Tripp already!

This one was one of my favorites because she looks so happy!

This one is the one that Sarah chose from this series...

I antiqued this one a little.  I just love iPhoto...

Sarah was not supportive of my love for this picture, but here it is anyway, because doggone it, I think it's cool!

The train came by while we were taking pictures and I thought it would be neat to capture it in the background since Sarah is expecting a baby of the boy variety.  While the train was going by and I was snapping away, a butterfly came and landed on Sarah's shoulder!  We were all amazed!  I snapped this shot just after he flew away...

But he came back and I caught him on her knee this time!  What a neat and special touch to our photo shoot!  God is showing His special love for this little one already!  (On a side note, if you look closely enough at this photo you can also make out a mosquito on Sarah's leg.  Hey, we were in New Orleans!)

Did I mention that I had two wonderful assistants helping me take these shots?  Stella and Cille were positively THE most well-behaved children during the photo shoot.  I was very proud of my girls.  Stella listened and followed directions.  When it was her turn to step in front of the lens, she was all smiles...

She and Aunt Sarah even took a break to look at some fish in the pond...

Cille was nearby snacking on some yummy Teddy Grahams in her stroller...

So, what do you think of my mad photography skills?  My mother-in-law's camera and I are available anytime, and we work cheap! ;-)

Sick Day

Cille recently brought home the gift that keeps on giving, a virus, and the result was all three of us staying home on Monday to recover. Here's how Cille and Daddy spent their sick day...

Cade's Birthday Party

It's that time of year again! Cade had his annual birthday bash at It's My Party in Baton Rouge this year and they really know how to throw a shindig, that's for sure.  Cille was eager to try out the inflatables, even though it looks like she's plotting something in this picture...

"Mawmaw, I said 'No more pictures!' "she said with exasperation.

The scab between her eyes is compliments of a nasty tumble into a metal garbage can at home...

Hula hoops: fun for all ages...

See what I mean?

When it was time for cake and ice cream, Stella shared hers with Mawmaw and Mawmaw's blouse...

Cade was really excited about his gifts.  I love how he likes them so much that he seems annoyed when his mom makes him open another one.  It shows the gift givers he genuinely appreciates each one...

I think Cille was trying to charm someone out of a bite of ice cream in this picture...

Stella and Uncle Benny shared a quick cuddle...

We had a great time at the party and can't wait for next year!  Happy birthday, Cade!  We love you!

To see how our little girls grew since Cade's last party, click here and prepare to be amazed.

Our Celebrity Babysitter

One of our favorite babysitters is in this picture...

No, not Zac Efron; he said he was busy filming a movie or something.  We're talking about Maggie!

A couple of weeks ago Zac was in town to shoot a movie at our hospital (incidentally, they did the filming in the OB ward where I had the girls!) and he was lucky enough to have the opportunity to meet a sweet person that we love, Maggie.  Which means we are all now one degree away from Zac Efron!  Who needs Kevin Bacon?  Way to go, Maggie!

School Days

One of the most fantastic things about Stella's new school is their website, where they frequently post pictures of the kids at school.  Here's Stella swinging around on her first day...

Cooling off with a frozen treat...

Exploring nursery rhymes with her friends...

Co-piloting a bee...

Sliding...

Taking an order...

Painting...

And building!

Stella's First Day at St. Timothy's

We had homework before the first day of school!  Stella's teachers sent us home from open house with a "Feel Better Bear" to decorate.  When Wednesday morning came, this is what the back of Stella's bear looked like...

Now that Stella had some pictures from home to help her if she got lonely, she was ready to go to school!

So was Cille, who was slightly envious of Stella's lunch box...

Stella chose her own outfit for the first day of school.  I gave her a choice of three shirts with her name on them and she chose her crown shirt from Mrs. Katie at Lilly Pie Creations.  I thought wearing shirts with her name on them might make the first week a little easier on her teachers...

Posing together...

With princess hands...

Getting out of the truck at school...

She looks too grown up and it makes me sad...

She pretty much waltzed into the before care room without so much as a backward glance and went right to playing.  I was glad that she was so excited about school, but a little upset that she didn't seem to need her mommy at all!

The family portraits from open house were on display in the hall.  We have some awesome friends on this board...

Damon hung around at school long enough to catch Molly Jane arriving for her first day of school as a four-year-old...

Preschool Open House

August 28th was open house at Stella's new school, St. Timothy's Episcopal Preschool.  Pawpaw had come for a visit that day, so we took him with us to open house and forced him to join our family photo.  There was also a Saints game that day...

Stella was very excited to meet her teachers and see her seat in her new classroom.  She was so pumped that when they asked her to pose for a picture, she posed with princess hands...

We're looking forward to a great year of learning and fun at St. Timothy's!