Family

Still here!

2010-02-16T21:42:00.005-05:00

So we're still here. At the moment I'm getting over a rather nasty cold/bronchitis/pneumonia/losing my voice thing that has lasted longer than I would have liked. This is my second time getting really sick in the past two months. I'm thankful that it's happening during my down time and that I have the time to actually rest and take care of myself, but it still sucks nonetheless! So I haven't been spending too much time on the computer and will be finishing up a wedding tomorrow since I've been stuck on the couch sleeping these yucky germs away for the last week or so. I'm feeling better tonight even though I'm still having difficulty breathing, but I'm thankful that Dan and Lillian are okay as of right now (knock on wood.)

In other news, Dan was busy this past weekend knocking down the wall in the kitchen. I'm sure it would be a heck of a lot easier hiring someone to do it all for us, but I don't think it would have been as rewarding and since Dan likes working with tools, I think that it's been a lot of fun making this house our own. The cabinets were ordered about a week or so ago so they should be coming in soon and we're getting a quote for solid granite so we'll see about that. We're going to hire someone to do the drywall for us since that's the thing we stink at and they can get it done a lot sooner than we can! Then Dan will be sanding the floors while I'm in Syracuse once my sister goes into labor with her second little one. I was also able to convince him that we should just get the downstairs bathroom done so that the whole downstairs can be completely done and then he can just focus on the garage this summer. We've decided to not get a shower stall for the downstairs bathroom and just add a sink (which it currently doesn't have btw- yuck I know!) and make a nice little laundry/coat/storage area instead. He'll be moving the doorway and we really don't have too much to do in there besides drywall, new floor, move the plumbing and new sink and toilet.before

I'm just really ready to have the whole downstairs completely done and I know that hiring someone to do the drywall is the way to get it done quicker. The other stuff we don't mind doing ourselves. So here's a pic of what Dan was able to do while we were gone. The cabinets will be going under the windows (where the butcher block is currently located) and on the other side of the stove and next to the microwave. We're waiting to see if we need the pantry or not once we have those cabinets installed. The heating duct is being re-routed through the bathroom wall (which is why I suggested to Dan that we just get the bathroom remodel over with since he has to tear into the wall anyways.) We'll be putting a wood inlay in the floor where the gap from the wall is and the two floors will of course be stained the same color. The new windows will be installed in the spring and we'll most likely be looking into a new door as well.after

I'm just really excited that I finally have my table back. The dining room was far too small before so we haven't eaten at the dinner table for about two years so it's nice to finally have it back. Thankfully Lillian has made the transition easily since she was a baby the last time she ate at the table. I can already tell that I'm going to be spending a lot more time in the kitchen and I look forward to when it's all done!!

I'll be back.......

2009-12-10T21:12:00.010-05:00

So my year has finally come to an end! I had my last session this past Sunday and had a shoot on both Saturday and Sunday. I never thought that I would have been working this late in the year, especially in this area but I'm forever grateful that I was able too and got some amazing photos to boot! I feel like I've come such a long way and yet I still have a long way to go. Next year is all about growing not only my business, but my family as well. Then after that my goal for 2011 is to open a studio space so that I have someplace that my clients can come too to meet me and to separate my business life from my personal life as much as possible.......and it of course needs to be space in Arlington so hopefully something will be on the market during that time with great light coming in through nice large windows (a girl can dream right?!)

Lilly is doing well. We finally scheduled her second evaluation with the speech therapist and this one will be a little more intense for her and she'll be observed in pre-school as well. She's really doing a lot better than she was when she first started school, but still no where near where she needs to be for her age so we'll just continue to work on that. She's on the waiting list for the pre-K program at her school for next year so I'm hoping that she'll get in not only because she'll be able to go to school with her peers but also because the school is like less than 2 miles away and the 20 minute drive to Cambridge is starting to wear me down.....though I know she'll miss Ms Jane and Ms Carol, but you never know.....she could end up going there again!

Dan is doing well. He's been taking a break from remodeling until he gets his Christmas present and then we'll get to work on the kitchen. I do the taping and mudding and painting and he does everything else! We have to figure out what we're going to do with the heating vent in the wall that we'll be tearing down but at this point I'd rather just tear the wall down and deal with the heat that goes up through the hole for now......I just want to have the major part of the remodel done so we can put the cabinets in and refinish the floors.....oh and a ceiling would be nice too! He did such a great job on the outside though so this break is well deserved!

Anyways, me and Lilly decorated her gingerbread house yesterday. I realized while it was drying that I should have glued it to a plate rather than that ghetto white plastic thing but oh well. She tries to steal the candy off of it but I told her she has to wait until Daddy gets home from his business trip tonight so he can see it and then she can have some. Here's some pics (we did it in the living room since the table is covered in Christmas stuff at the moment!).....

Fall

2009-10-14T22:33:00.010-05:00

I love the fall. I love mums. I love the smells outside and hearing the leaves fall off of the trees (though I hate the mess they leave on the ground!) I love going to the pumpkin patch and watching Lilly run around and watching her enjoy her surroundings.....

I love watching her find just the right pumpkin....

I love taking walks with the beautiful fall colors around us...

I love hearing her laugh....

I love fall! In other news we have lots going on here at the Bombria house! Lillian has been doing well in school. Me and Dan are doing well with work. And of course the house is doing well! Currently the valleys in the slate roof are being replaced in the front part of the house. There's a lot of labor involved since he has to remove like 3 or 4 rows of slate to be able to replace the metal and each slate tile has it's own pin holding it in, but thankfully Stanley is really good at what he does and we decided to have him do both valleys even though we were only planning on doing one because he's so quick. He'll also be replacing all of the broken slates and putting some protective stuff on the back valleys until we replace them in a year or two since they don't need to be replaced immediately. At least now I can repaint the spare bedroom and cover up the water damage! Dan has also been very busy and is getting close to done with the outside for the year. As you'll see in the below picture, he replaced all of the decorative moulding on the front of the house since it was rotted out and cleaned up the slate roof (you can still see the spot where he was standing that still needs to be cleaned up but it looks SOOOO much better now!) We also have a brand new storm door that he installed. Right now he's putting in two layers of insulation in the attic so we'll stay nice and toasty this winter and we'll be replacing the front windows in the coming weeks as well. The only thing left to do on the front of the house is the lattice work which he has contructed but just needs to install. Thankfully he agreed that repainting the garage needs to be put off till next year......time to focus on the kitchen!! Anyways, here's a pic of the house......can't wait to do the landscaping next year to complete the look!!!

Just a pic

2009-09-23T14:44:00.000-05:00

I'm trying....

2009-09-16T09:00:00.002-05:00

really I am! I know that our family blog has really been neglected since business has picked up earlier this year. I'm doing an even worse job with my photography blog which REALLY should be updated more often so people don't think that I'm just sitting around twiddling my thumbs all day long! Anyways, here's another pic of Lillian from the other day.....

Another quick update!

2009-09-15T14:48:00.004-05:00

Well today was Lillian's first official day of pre-school and I think that it went rather well. I started to cry while we were walking from the car to the entrance but I pulled myself together before any one caught me.....not that it would matter or anything! There was a sign on the door telling us to just show them where the hook is for their coat and backpack and to make it a quick good-bye. I wanted to stay so bad you don't even know, but I knew that she'd have a good time and I knew that we both needed it so I did just as the sign said and left! Anyways, I said I'd make this quick since I'm getting ready for a session, so here are a couple of pics (which are unedited)....

totally bad pic from right before we left....

and her totally cheestastic smile......I swear this cracks me up......this is why you should never ask a photographer's kid to smile......she'll say cheese (which she's totally hearing from other people) and give you this....

and out in the backyard last night...

Been busy....

2009-09-13T00:04:00.001-05:00

just a quick post.....will be back later Sunday/early Monday with updates on Lilly and some pics, but in the meantime this is what I've been busy with lately.....senior sessions!!

It's Official!!!

2009-08-31T17:27:00.003-05:00

We have a completely potty trained 3 year old and the timing couldn't be more perfect! She sleeps through the night with her underwear, wears them throughout the day (as compared to running around with nothing on the bottom) and pulls them down when she goes on the potty and pulls them back up. She wears underwear in public as well and even wore them all day yesterday at the fair without having any accidents. She doesn't like being told when to go the bathroom and when I ask her if she has to go, even if she hasn't gone for a long time, I've started to realize that when she tell me she doesn't have to go, she really doesn't have to go! So I no longer ask her (and right now as I'm typing this she just ran to the potty on her own and is going) She'll have accidents I know, but that's life! Yay.......NO MORE PULLUPS!!!!!!!!! Anyways, that's my major news and I'm so happy that I don't have to worry about her for preschool anymore! Here's a photo that I took of her this morning when we went outside.....she was going around smelling all of the flowers along the river.....

Dan is back to painting the front of the house and he should have it all painted sometime this week and then he just needs to replace the woodwork he ripped out and we'll be all done painting (not that I did any of it or anything-he wouldn't let me!!!) The kitchen is at a standstill until the plumbing is done and then once it is we need to get a second opinion on the wall we're going to rip out (it's coming out no matter what.....just a matter of whether we need to put up a microlamb or not for support!) and then we can get that out of the way, measure for the other cabinets and start ordering them.......I just want to have a normal kitchen so that I can one day host a pampered chef party, see the river from the couch and have someplace to eat (we haven't eaten in the dining room in a long time since I tend to be claustrophobic)

2009-08-25T13:54:00.004-05:00

Time is starting to slip past me and my little girl is becoming a big girl.

We're still here.....

2009-08-19T12:23:00.003-05:00

we're just busy! I've been in the middle of a busy wedding season and now senior portrait sessions are starting to kick in so busy is certainly an understatement. It's a lot of work for sure owning your own business, but the pluses certainly outweigh the negatives! I just need to do a better job with capturing Lillian. She's in Syracuse right now (which is probably why I have a moment to post!) with Grandpa and Grandpa (she can't say grandma!) Dan has the next three days off and we're busy working on the house while she's gone so we don't have to worry about the mess. I was planning on doing more and had a large list, but with me being so busy, my list has grown a lot smaller and I think that some of the things will just end up being cold weather projects when business starts to slow down. I've been thinking about the possibility of renting some studio space within the next two years. I'd love to be able to add a second floor and bathroom above the garage, but I have a feeling we're not zoned for it, but since I'm in no rush I'll wait to find out! Anyways, it's just a thought since it's kinda hard to shoot outdoors (which I love the most) with 2 feet of snow on the ground.....it's a ways down the road at this point, but I think it's good to have goals and I've already surpassed my goals with where I thought I'd be with this business so I'm content at this point. It's just still so strange for me that I own my own business......nothing I ever thought I'd end up doing but I love it!

I've decided to limit the amount of weddings I shoot each year, not only for my sanity, but also from a creativity standpoint. Wedding season is starting to slow down for me for the year and I already have 6 weddings booked for next year which still surprises me (I guess I'm somewhat good at what I do!)

So onto the house and some updates on that! Dan is sanding the front today. He had to rip out a bunch of woodwork since it rotted out. Tonight he'll be ripping out the kitchen sink cabinet and replacing it with our beautiful new cherry cabinets.......they're a really dark stain, almost black and I just love them! We'll also have our new dishwasher installed which will be like heaven since I haven't had one in over a year. Then there's the black granite tile and the granite sink that he'll be doing as well. We decided to invest in the cabinets this year then in a few years we'll do solid surface counters......not sure on the granite or soapstone but we'll see. I'm just so excited for the ball to get rolling on this again and get the darn room done....though we still have a wall to rip out, new plumbing for the upstairs bathroom to replace and sand the wood floors but I'd like to hope maybe we'll be done by the end of the year!

Lillian is doing well! She'll be starting pre-school in a few weeks......so hard for me to believe still! I bought her some new dresses and still need to get her a few more and some new shoes and a backpack but other than that she'll be all set. She'll be going to Cambridge this year and then next year she'll be going to the program at the school so that she'll be with her classmates. She's been doing really well with potty training and is probably 90% there and even sleeps through the night in her underwear. She's been sleeping in the spare room since Dan has to go in and out of her room with the sanding and stuff but once that's done we'll be buying her a full size mattress and she'll officially be a big girl. I'm just really looking forward to her having new buddies and hopefully watching her speech blossom. She's such an amazing little girl and I love her to pieces!

Anyways, that post was way too long and I need to get back to work. Here's a pic of Dan sanding the house....
the only thing left to be replaced on the front of the house is the front door/screen door and the windows and then the house itself will officially be done besides a few repairs to the slate roof!!

Sick

2009-07-05T22:27:00.002-05:00

That's what we've been in our household for a little over a week. Dan started feeling sick when he went on his fly-fishing trip and then I started feeling sick when he returned. I wasn't as bad as he was. We figured it was just some sort of bug. Come Tuesday of last week and a notice on our back door from the water board- we had E. Coli in our water from the excessive rain. We're still sick- Dan is very fatigued and I'm just plain sick all over again. Lilly thankfully hasn't shown any signs which I'm thankful for. I thought I was better, but everything started all over again tonight and I'm back at square one. I did some more research when we got home and a lot of what we're reading says to stay away from antibiotics and to just rest and drink......a lot! We picked up some Gatorade so hopefully we'll start feeling better soon. Anyways, I know I've been doing a bad job at keeping up with updates and what not, but I'll be sure to be back later in the week with some new pics and updates on Lilly. In the meantime I'm just going to edit and rest! Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July weekend.......oh.....and I finally hit the big 3-0.......scary I tell ya!!!

Three Years ago....

2009-06-06T23:50:00.004-05:00

Three years ago today, my Lillian Grace was brought into the world. I had spent the two days prior in a hospital bed as they gave me steroid shots in hopes of strengthening Lillian's lungs for her early entry. I've never really thought about it until now, but my OB/GYN basically saved Lillian's life and for that I'll forever be grateful. If she hadn't sent me go to the hospital, the sono tech said we probably would have lost her since my next appointment wasn't scheduled for another two weeks. Scary to think about now for sure.

I didn't sleep much during those two days as you can imagine. The morning she was born though, I was finally able to catch some zzzzz's. I awoke to Betsy grabbing a nurse because Lillian's heartbeat was dropping.......and of course with Betsy being a nurse she wasn't taking no for an answer. The nurses were in the middle of a shift change and they had initially wanted to wait until the next shift came on. Lillian wasn't in the mood though. So off we went.

I had a hard time breathing while I was on the table. Maybe it was my nerves kicking in, I don't know, but I felt sick to my stomach throughout the procedure. They informed me once they were inside that they were going to have to make two incisions, therefore forcing me to have a c-section with the next kid. And then she came.

My sweet Lillian came into this world weighing 3 lbs 1 oz. I was so scared when they showed her to me. I know that there would be babies in the NICU far smaller than she was, but when you're expecting an 8 pound baby, a 3 pound one can come as quite a shocker, especially when you've never seen a baby that small. I saw her briefly and then she was whisked away to be taken care of. After they were done with me, they sent me back to my room. It was then that they told me the worst news ever......I wouldn't be able to see her for 24 hours because of my blood pressure. It was still really high and I was at risk of having a seizure so I had to stay put. I started doubting myself, doubting how I'd be as a parent if I couldn't even carry her full term. For 24 hours, this was all that I had to look at.......

And now here we are three years later. She's happy, she's healthy and she's what I am most proud of in my life. She has the most wonderful laugh......her dimples can bring a smile to anyone that sees them......she makes the best funny faces........she's mine. Someday soon she'll have a sibling to go through life with, but in the meantime, I'm going to treasure these moments with my three year old.......my sweet Lillian Grace.

Great Sale at Pink Ink

2009-06-04T22:42:00.004-05:00

I'm soooooo excited to be traveling to St. Louis next week you don't even know!!! I need a break, a mommy break to be exact. I love my job, don't get me wrong. That being said, I've been in mommy mode for 3 years and everyone needs a break from reality every now and then! This will be my first "me time" since Lilly was born. I'm a little nervous about the whole plane ride thing considering I've only flown once and that was from Syracuse to NYC so that almost doesn't even count! I've requested an aisle seat cause I got a little sick to my stomach when I looked out the window the last time. I think I'm just nervous about the unknown......like layovers!!

Anyways, the whole reason for this post is that myself, Amy and Holly are having a great sale to celebrate at Pink Ink. Maybe I'll even spend the extra couple of bucks on a cocktail or two.....something I haven't had in a LOOOOOOOONNNNNGGGGGGGG time! So if you're a photographer and you need some new stuff, now is a great time to stock up! Everything in my store is 50% off and you can buy my whole store for the final price of $50 (will show up as $100 initially until the 50% discount is taken at the checkout!)

You can pick up the Buy My Store options here in the Special Offers section at Pink Ink!

Big Weekend

2009-06-04T07:50:00.004-05:00

I'm so busy getting ready for this weekend but wanted to post a couple of pics of Lilly playing in the backyard....

On Saturday I'm shooting a wedding and on Sunday we're having Lillian's birthday party. I usually like to hold things on Saturday cause I consider Sunday a day to spend with your family, but since I'm working and Sunday is her actual birthday, it was the way to go this year! The kids will be making some crafts and I'm hopeful that it won't rain out, otherwise the kids will be in the garage and everyone will be stuffed in my construction zone of a house! Today we're headed to the wedding location so I can check things out and to the grocery store for the rest of the stuff for the party and then back home to clean and do some laundry......which makes me remember that I really need to have Dan put up a laundry line outside......it's been so beautiful outside and I haven't had line dried clothes since I was a kid!!

The house

2009-05-27T20:34:00.004-05:00

So it's been awhile since I gave an updated photo of what we've been doing with the house! Dan started working on the outside a few weeks ago and he just finished most of the painting besides a few touch ups for the bottom portion of the front of the house. He still needs to refinish the floor and install the new light fixture and we plan on getting a new storm door cause I think the style that's on there now hides too much of the newly painted maroon door!

As you can see, we're getting closer to a fully painted house! This year we're focusing on finishing all of the painting, fixing the leak in the slate roof as well as cleaning it (it's a slow leak so it's nothing major at this point but still needs to get fixed), repairing the woodwork on the outside of the house that needs to be replaced and painting the garage. He needs to tear out the lattice and replace it but that's nothing too major. We'd also like to re-grade the driveway and put down some crushed stone since it was a complete mess this spring. Dan was a landscaper in college so he knows how to put all of the stuff in so we're going to wait until next year to do that so that we can invest some money into it since we'd like to get some more trees and have some permanent plantings in the front of the house.

So while Dan figures out how he's going to paint the top of the house, we're moving onto the kitchen. We received our new sink base which is lovely and we've changed our plans a little. We were planning on waiting a few years to start the major demo, but I'm at the point now where I don't want to go through this all over again! So, the plan is to tear down the wall, refinish the floor and buy the cabinets piece by piece and then install them. We're still up in the air about the countertops, but we can always do granite tile for now and then upgrade them down the line since the cabinets are going to be a decent chunk of change. We're going to leave the bathroom updates for next year, but in the meantime we'll be installing a fan and new light fixture in the upstairs one which will be great since there is basically no proper lighting in there right now!

It's going to be a busy summer for sure, but I' m ready for it to be over with and I'm glad that Dan feels the same way.

Washable Markers

2009-05-21T14:52:00.004-05:00

Thank goodness for the word washable!

I bought some washable markers at the store today to make Lilly's new potty chart for her stickers and she couldn't resist playing with them herself on the back porch.

Then yesterday right after she woke up she took off her pants and pull ups, grabbed a book and sat on the couch for a good morning read (hence the messy hair!)...

Things are going okay here. She had her three year check up the other day and normally I post an update that afternoon or the next day, but I needed some time to digest the news that Lilly most likely needs to see a speech therapist. Even now as I type this I'm crying because I feel like it's my fault. If she weren't born premature, I feel like she'd be caught up......and if I didn't have high blood pressure she wouldn't have been born so early. When we went to the open house for pre-school last week, I could hear the difference between her and the other three year olds so I think I kinda knew this was going to happen, but I think it's just natural for all parents to want the best for their children.

Her doctor said that she noticed that she's a lot more involved in things than other little girls her age. She likes to inspect things and she's really active. She said that most likely she's focusing on her motor skills over her language skills which also plays a role in her potty training which is still a work in progress, but she's getting better every day and I look forward to the day when I don't have to pick up any more pull ups until the next one is born (still awhile for that!)

So at this point we're just waiting to hear back from the school so she can get an evaluation. I'm not going to focus on it though and I'm not going to push her. We'll continue to read throughout the day, learn our ABC's and 123's (she's up to 15) and just play and have a good time together! I'm also going to try to not blame myself, but as most mother's know, it's hard not to blame yourself!

Pre-school

2009-05-14T22:38:00.002-05:00

And so it begins! We headed to Lillian's pre-school open house today which I was excited about. I think mostly because I wanted to see how Lillian compared to the other kids. I know that each child is unique and their going to develop on their own terms, but it's hard not to compare to the other kids. Being around other kids, I can see where things are lacking a little bit and I think part of me expected it. Her doctor noticed that she was a teeny bit behind, but assured me that once she got into school and was able to interact with other kids that she'd start to pick up. Her speech has gotten a lot better in the past month and I've seen a lot of progress. She can count to the number 15 on her own and she's learning the alphabet song (still some gibberish in there of course!) She loves to be read too and that was really the only advice that we were given......just keep reading to her and she'll catch up sooner or later. So since that's a part of her daily routine anyways, nothing really needs to be changed on that front. Potty training though is numero uno!! I think she might have been the only one in pull-ups. So I'm determined now to get this accomplished this summer. I'm not going to push her and I'm going to let her make mistakes.

Tonight though she actually pulled down her underwear and sat on the toilet by herself without us telling her which was a first. She also put the little seat on the toilet in the bathroom by herself and went there as well. I know it'll happen when it happens.......just as long as it happens before she starts school!

She did EXTREMELY well with the other kids. She's always been one to just start talking to other kids and going up to them to start playing. She's certainly a little social butterfly and I'm thinking she didn't get that from me.......not that I'm not friendly or anything......just takes me awhile to warm up to people!! Anyways, I'm just so very proud of her and I know that she'll enjoy it there!

We'll hopefully be heading to the field across the street tomorrow since I found out from my next door neighbor that it's okay for me to take photos over their since the town owns it.......a great field and yellow barn......and you know me and my barns......love em!!!

Hello!

2009-04-30T15:26:00.003-05:00

So I know I suck at updating this blog! I've been busy though which is a good excuse and I highly doubt that Dan will be updating the blog anytime soon! Anyways, wedding season will be kicking into full gear this weekend. May and June are busy, busy, busy and hopefully getting busier with senior portraits during the week! Designing at Pink Ink has been a blessing in disguise and I absolutely love being able to design stuff again and with it being stuff that I can use for my business. I haven't scrapped in ages though which I really need to do sometime soon! So I'll do some updating on all fronts of my life so here we go!

Business- Business is doing great!! I'm about to purchase another lens within the week and it's a scary purchase, but it's something that I need and I know that it'll pay for itself soon! It's just scary when you make large purchases and when you look at the receipt and think "oh my god.....I could have bought a lot of stuff for that amount of money!"

Dan- Dan is doing well! Still loving his job which is something that I know is hard to come by these days. On days where I think that he might be having a tough day I always ask him if it was a bad day like the last place he worked and it's always a certain no!

Lilly- Lilly is doing well! She'll be turning 3 soon. Still hard to believe that my baby will be 3! I'm about to start planning her birthday party since we didn't have one for her last year since we were in the midst of moving into the house. I just can't decide if I should make the cake or not. The crafty girl in me want to make it again and make it pretty so I'll have something to photograph, but I guess we'll see! She's been doing well with potty training and actually pooped in the potty for the first time today which is super! We've been using a sticker chart which seems to be working well. Only problem is that she only does really well when she doesn't wear anything on the bottom! So next week we're going to move onto underwear and let her have accidents until she learns.......thank goodness for hardwood floors!! It's also hard to imagine that she'll be entering pre-school this year.......I'm still in total denial!

The house- The house is coming along nicely. Dan started scraping the front of the house this past weekend and hopes to have the bottom half done within the next couple of weeks. Then his cousin who is a painter is going to help him do the upper part. He also need to replace some of the woodwork that is rotted out because there's no point painting over something that's just going to fall apart! The kitchen is moving along slowly. I think mostly because of the whole dust issue. I HATE the layers of dust it leaves in my house. And since I'm the one that does the drywall, it's up to me to finish it! We're ordering the kitchen sink cabinet and we're going to get a quote for the rest of the cabinets. We might be able to do the kitchen remodel a little sooner than planned thanks to a wonderful discount we received! We're also going to price solid granite (we were planning on getting tile granite) as well which is exciting.

Another thing we're going to start doing this year is replacing the windows. The kitchen and bathroom are first on the list followed by the front windows. And yet another thing on the list of things to do is the driveway......we won't be able to pave it for a few years since it's not a high priority at this point, but we do need to have some new stone put down so that's it's not such a mess next spring! Like I've said countless times before, it'll be a work in progress for years to come!

Oh and the big news.......Bessy is back from being on vacation. You see......Bessy is my lawnmower. Bessy was my grandpa's riding lawnmower that me and Dan inherited when Grandpa passed away. So she sat in storage waiting to be used. Then when we were ready for her, she wasn't feeling too well so we brought her to the lawn mower doctor in Arlington. Well I guess Bessy really liked it there because she's been there since August. I finally told Dan that I had had enough and that I wanted the mower back so that we could mow the lawn whenever we wanted......otherwise I was going to make him buy one of those eco-friendly push mowers which wouldn't have been fun with 3/4 of an acre of land!! Needless to say, Bessy is back home with us and working well. She'll probably need to be replaced in a few years, but she works and she gets the job done so that's all that matters!

Anyways, here's a pic of Lilly today out on the back porch enjoying the weather and coloring....

The outdoors

2009-04-17T08:01:00.003-05:00

I love that we're finally able to enjoy the outdoors again! Lilly has been having lots of fun the past few days in the backyard. We've been playing kickball, dancing and throwing rocks in the river which she loves to do. I was able to catch a couple of her and even managed a smile from her.....

Lilly will be spending tomorrow and tomorrow night with Nana so me and Dan can focus when we go to Curtis Lumber to pick out the cabinetry and try to get an estimate for the all of the cabinets and not just the sink/island cabinet. The only major expense in the kitchen besides the cabinets is moving the heating ducts. It won't happen this year, but maybe we can buy the cabinets one by one to spread out the cost over a year and it can maybe happen next year so we'll see. Dan will be focusing on the front of the house now which will require some more time because the detail trim in the front is peeling really bad. I'll still be stuck inside working on the kitchen, but at least I can have the back door open to let in the breeze from the river! I'll be working on my perennial flower garden too so that'll be something new for me to do as well!! Anyways, I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend wherever you are!!

Easter

2009-04-14T18:28:00.004-05:00

We had a wonderful Easter this year! Even amongst all of the chaos of the kitchen/dining room remodel we had a lovely Easter dinner. We started the day by heading out to church. Our local church stopped doing Sunday masses so we thought that we were going to have to go to the next town over, but when we drove by the parking lot was near full so we figured that they were holding mass. So luckily we didn't have to drive to Manchester to go to church. This year we were one of those "holiday attendees" as I liked to call it when we attended mass regularly. We used to go to church every weekend when we were living in Buffalo, but once we moved to Massachusetts and then to Vermont we stopped going. Life got too hectic so church got put on the back burner. So maybe this will make us start going again.....but then again having an almost 3 year old who only wants to run around may make me think differently!

Anyways, once we came back home, we had our first Easter Egg hunt which was so cute. Lilly didn't really understand what she was looking for at first, but she got the hang of it half way through it. This year she only had candy in her eggs, but once she understands money we'll start putting money in the eggs so that she can put it in her bank account. She loved her baskets.....her candy from Grandpa & Grandpa (she still calls Mary Grandpa....although she did call her Grandma once!), her movies and candy from Aunt Betsy, Uncle Justin and Marianna and her sock Monkey from Nana (Lilly loves monkeys!) Then we had a wonderful spiral ham and other yummy stuff for an early dinner!

And here's a couple of pics of Lilly during her egg hunt....

HUGE SALE!!!

2009-04-13T13:36:00.001-05:00

You can check out my stuff here at Pink Ink........and be sure to check out all of the other designers participating as well!!

The White Brush

2009-03-28T07:31:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was like any other weekday for me and Lilly. We played, I did some work on the computer, I attempted to clean up after the world's messiest toddler (she is seriously soooooo messy) and I made us lunch and put Lilly down for her nap. Shortly after her nap, I got a headache. That headache soon turned into a migraine which is something that I used to get a lot of in high school and college but have been lucky for the most part that they've pretty much been phased out of my life. Typically when I get a migraine, nothing really helps other than lying down and drinking some Pepsi. This migraine though, wanted to stay with me throughout the afternoon and didn't feel like leaving. Later in the evening, I decided to close my eyes and just rest, hoping that it would help (I have a hard time sleeping when I have a migraine.) Lilly, recognizing that something was off, came over to me, sat down beside me and started kissing my head and gently rubbing my hair back and forth. In that moment, I was brought back to my childhood. The sensation of her rubbing my head calmed me and soothed me, and within thirty minutes my migraine was gone.

It's that soothing feeling that my mother must have loved when she had me and my sister brush her hair while she was on the couch. We'd grab the white brush from the bathroom, the white brush that my Grandma Schlie would buy whenever we needed a new one that could only be found in the store in Walton, NY down near camp. I can't even begin to remember how many soft bristled brushes we went through as kids, but it was the only brush we ever used. Countless nights me and my sister would brush our mom's hair for $1 to make her feel better. We always used to ask her why she liked having her hair brushed and we never understood why she liked it so much, but I guess as a young kid getting $1, we probably didn't really care what the reason was. It wasn't until last night, that that feeling came over me. My child, who at two and half years old knew that something was wrong with on her own, soothed me and made me feel better. I don't remember whether my mom had headaches or if it was just when she had a tough day at work (I know I can remember that she didn't like one of her co-workers very much!) but I now know that it soothed her and made her feel better. It's silly memories like those that I hold close to my heart as I'm sure my sister does. My dad still has a white brush, which I'm sure has survived this long because me and my sister don't use it on a daily basis to brush our thick hair. SHHHHHHH.......I have a secret......every now and then when I'm home I brush my hair with his brush just to bring some old memories back!

Anyways, I just type up this stuff to not only get it off my chest, but to remember the little things and I feel a lot better just saying it all out loud!

Running

2009-03-19T00:05:00.004-05:00

This was a couple of weeks ago right after a session. She just loved running up and down the road in the snow (don't worry, the road has almost no traffic!)

Her hair is crazy......this I know! I'm letting her bangs grow out so they're usually swept to the side since I'm noticing a curl in them as well! She has such crazy curly hair still.

Not much going on here. I have two sessions this weekend though so it'll be a nice change. I'm looking forward to seeing some green outside and start shooting outdoors more. Hopefully Lillian will be a willing model for me this spring and summer with all of her cute summer clothes that I've gotten her so far! I was thinking about trying to learn how to sew again, but at that point I think that I'll have too much on my hands so I'm just going to stick to my camera and knitting needles for now!

I guess that's it for now, gotta get back to designing since I've been away all day running around!

Chocolate

2009-03-06T08:05:00.002-05:00

Chocolate was the first word that Lillian spoke and it's certainly a treat for her to have some! Last week when I gave her a little piece her whole face was covered with it, even around her eyes.....this time she did a little better!

Dan took yesterday and today off to relax and work on the kitchen. It's really nice having him home with us for a couple extra days, especially since Dan isn't one to take days off and he really deserves them. Lilly was super good yesterday when she let us sleep until 9 in the morning, which was a really big treat for the both of us. We took a ride up to Glens Falls and went to the outlets in Lake George so I could get some new jeans and then we ate dinner at Olive Garden since we had a gift certificate. Today we're going to work on the kitchen and then tomorrow we're going to check out some pricing on the kitchen sink cabinet. I'm hoping that we'll be able to find a cabinet that is already painted black so that we don't have to sand and paint something down ourselves, but I guess we'll see. We're going to have the sink cabinet black and the rest will be a dark wood when we do the rest of the kitchen. I want the sink cabinet to look like a separate piece anyways which is why we're going ahead and getting it now. Besides the fact that I'm ready for a bigger sink and a dishwasher! Anyways, I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend!

She's not my baby anymore

2009-03-04T11:04:00.003-05:00

She really is growing up way too fast. She brought the bed out of the dining room as I was setting things up for an engagement shoot last week and sat on the bed. Hard to believe that when she was born she was so small that her whole body would fit in half of that bed.

For Nana.....

2009-02-23T07:54:00.001-05:00

A couple photos.....

2009-02-17T14:06:00.001-05:00

not too talkative today so just a photo of Lillian and Marianna.....

2009-02-14T09:55:00.002-05:00

Our House

2009-01-28T12:43:00.014-05:00

So our house is still a work in progress and will be for years to come! We had planned to do the bathroom first, but with a leaky old pipe draining each time we flushed the toilet or took a shower, it became evident that the bathroom would be put on hold. So with the leaky pipe, we needed to remove the wall where it's located since the whole cast iron and rotted pipe needed to be removed. So then came the removal of the rest of the dry wall, which in fact wasn't even dry wall......it was more like cardboard. Then the ceiling came down. And then the removal of layers upon layers of laminate flooring on the floor which was on top of the original hardwood floors. So here we go on the tour of the state of our current kitchen!!!

But first an updated outside photo of the house. We'll be painting the front of the house in the spring since we have to rent a boom to get to the upper portion above the front porch because of the slate roof which you can't walk on. We'll be redoing all of the landscaping as well and putting on all new lattice work, etc to make it perfect!

This is yucky pipe that had to be taken out....note the plastic bag we had to cover it up with until it was repaired!

We'll be replacing all of the windows in the house since they're all original and it'd be nice to have windows that work without propping them up!

This is where there must have been a wood burning stove or something at one time. We're trying to get a hold of the son that lives in Rutland so we can find out some more info about the house. We have a new over the range microwave that we'll be putting up as soon as we have a ceiling!A little surprise when we started lifting up the floor!

This has by far been the worst part of the remodel so far. Thankfully there was only one layer of subfloor, but there were probably 6-7 layers of laminate with some horrible stuff that was placed directly on top of the hardwood. I had to scrape and scrape for hours each day to get it off. Most of it is up now and the rest will be taken off when we sand them down.

The worst part was certainly underneath the stove.......so greasy and smelly. There's virtually no damage to the floor other than the holes from the subfloor so it's a bit odd that they ever covered it up. But we'll bring her back to life like the living room!!

These are the new lights in the kitchen. There's another one in between the windows as well that shines down on the butcher block. This wall will be turning into a half wall soon. I want to open it up and let the breeze from the river flow through the house a little more during the summer time. We're also going to be building a custom island that will house a larger sink and a new dishwasher. I want it to look like a separate piece of cabinetry....more like a piece of furniture. I'm really excited about getting a dishwasher though.....you don't realize how handy are until you don't have one anymore!
The remodel that we're doing right now is just the initial remodel. It was really horrible before and I didn't like being in there. Even though we still have aways to go, I don't mind as much being in there.....even with the studs exposed. So the big remodel in a couple of years will involve us tearing out this entire wall and opening it up to the dining room......like I said....I want it open! All of the cabinets will go on the wall where the stove is and we'll be putting cabinets underneath the windows as well to maximize our storage space. We'll be making the bathroom/laundry downstairs larger and possibly add a stand up shower. With the remodel that we're doing right now, all of the plumbing for the bathroom which is in the kitchen ceiling will be redone since everything is exposed right now. I hate these cabinets, but there's no point replacing them now since they'll all be torn out in a couple of years so we're just going to paint them in the meantime.

And here is the latest project around the fridge. We'll be getting a bigger fridge as well so Dan made the space larger. We're going to add shelves to add even more storage and a custom garbage thingy in the bottom of it. We're just really trying to maximize the space and the closet that was there before was sort of a waste.

So there you have it! Now I'm totally pooped from typing all of that!!!

Been busy

2009-01-27T11:43:00.003-05:00

but here's a pic of Lillian!

Now at Pink Ink Studios......

2009-01-12T12:30:00.004-05:00

ME!!!!!! Can I just say a big woohoo!!!! I've got some products up in the store now and a lot of ideas for new products! So in the meantime, here's a link to my stuff at Pink Ink and also be sure to check out the retirement sale that's going on right now MY STUFF

and here's a small sampling......

Doing a better job....

2009-01-08T20:58:00.003-05:00

at keeping up with posting pics of Lillian is easier said than done! Some days she'll let me take her picture and some days she wants nothing to do with me and my camera. I set up my backdrop stand today and she wasn't in the mood. I was able to get a few decent photos though.....
In other news we picked up our new over the range microwave tonight (thanks Pat!) I'm really excited about the extra counter space since the microwave that we have now is the same size as the new one. It's a good microwave and all, but it'll be nice to have that extra space and a light above the cooktop. Dan didn't want to do recessed lights because he didn't think that it fit with the house so I'll be really happy when it gets installed. This weekend Dan is going to be doing the framing around the fridge where we'll be putting some built in shelves on the side. He's going to be making the spot where the fridge is a little large since we'll be getting a new fridge eventually, but in the meantime we're just going to paint the one we have black. It's a newer fridge, but it's on the smaller side and I really want one with the freezer on the bottom.....but that's last on the list. We're going to wait to refinish the floors until all of the plumbing is done so we don't have to worry about it getting any dings.....even though the impatient me wants to get it done before! Hopefully everything will be done in the kitchen within a couple of months. Then we can slowly start to decide what we're going to do in the bathroom which also needs to be torn down to the studs. An older home can certainly be a lot of work, but I wouldn't have it any other way! It has character and charm and it's all ours......and I don't have to worry about putting holes in the walls!!

My joy

2009-01-06T19:51:00.003-05:00

She really is just about the sweetest little gal there is (most of the time!) She found her princess dress that Aunt Betsy and Uncle Justin got her for Christmas and of course when she realized that it's the same dress that Snow White wears she just had to have it on and started stripping down! I told her that she had to go look at herself in the mirror and this was her reaction when she saw herself.

It's really these type of moments that make me ready for another one......I mean I've been ready for another one for some time now. A lot of people have been asking when we plan on having another one and if we're planning on having another one soon and each time I get asked I'll admit that my heart breaks a little bit. I know it's a natural question to be asked so it's not like I'm upset that people are asking or anything. I guess I get upset because I think that people expect you to have your second child within a certain time frame and while we were fully planning on having another a little sooner, we've decided to wait a little longer than planned. So now I'll get to the part that makes me sad.......I feel like for the first time in my life, I need to be a little selfish. My photography business has grown so much and I've finally found the one thing I was meant to do other than being a mother and I feel like I have to let the business itself blossom a little more. I've put so much into it so far and I still have a long way to go. Knowing that there is a chance that I'll be on bed rest with the next one if my blood pressure gets high again (have I mentioned that my blood pressure was normal for the first time in like 10 years at my last appointment!) means that I won't be able to shoot as many sessions or weddings that year. So I'd like to become a little more established before I take that time off. I have some goals that I'd like to reach this year and hopefully I'll be able to reach them. I'm not going to estimate when we'll have our next one, because when we're ready, we'll know it. So for the time being, I'm just going to be happy with the amazing daughter and husband that I have and treasure them while it's just the three of us!

Anyways, I'll be back later in the week with some updated pics of the house!

Her haircut

2008-12-31T11:50:00.003-05:00

I have some more photos to share, but thought that I'd finally take some photos of Lilly with her new haircut! I might actually keep it short for awhile since it's so much easier to take care of with all of her curls.
It's snowing here today so we'll be staying inside all day. I'd take Lilly out to play in it, but it's really cold and windy so I think we'll stay warm inside instead! The kitchen floor has been removed and we're down to the hardwood. I'm glad that it's in good shape but at the same time I'm upset that it was covered up with so many layers of horrible crap! I'm glad that we decided to pull it up instead of add to the layers. Now we just need to sand it down, stain and poly it and it'll be as good as new......but with a little bit of character added in! We'll also be putting the drywall up and knocking down the wall between the kitchen and living room and turning it into a half wall. I think that the kitchen will consume my thoughts until it's done. So I'll be back with more pictures of the house, Lilly and Christmas!

Her Christmas Photos

2008-12-28T22:32:00.002-05:00

I guess I can share them now since our Christmas cards went out already.....

Her first haircut....

2008-12-11T15:59:00.001-05:00

I still need to take some photos of her after, but since the light wasn't that great outside today we'll wait a little bit. But here is a photo of her getting her hair cut with her big sad eyes and facial expressions.....

A new look.....

2008-12-10T22:37:00.004-05:00

so I decided with my new found time on my hands earlier this week that I'm ready for a new look business wise. With that came a decision that I needed a logo. I was first thinking about hiring a graphic designer to do the work for me, but I thought that I'd try my hand at it first and get some opinions from some friends on what I created before I went that route. So here is the new look of Carrie Ann Photography.....
I love trees. They mean life to me and I think that they can be reflective of people the way that they change. I'll be working on updating my website and blog with the new look in the coming weeks. I may even get a whole new website sometime next year, but we'll see!

In other news, we're still in the middle of remodeling chaos! Part of the leaky pipe was replaced today only to find out that the other end of the pipe......the vent end that goes up to the roof has a leak. The leak is actually in the seal around the roof so since it was raining really hard today it was coming down the whole length of the pipe and right into my kitchen. The leak must have just happened since the pipe has been exposed a couple of times and it's rained just as hard and never leaked. Thankfully, it can be fixed and will be in the coming weeks. We'll also be replacing all of the plumbing in the bathroom since we have to replace the drywall in the kitchen ceiling anyways. It's best that everything is happening while everything is exposed anyways and in this case I'm really looking at this as a positive thing. We know then that everything has been updated and will be as it should be, with a little character thrown in!

Lillian had her first hair cut today and everything that I thought would happen did. I prepared myself by bringing along some candy, juice and the iPod with a Dora movie on it. Dora helped a little bit, but for the most part it was a cry fest with big crocodile tears running down her face the whole time. She was fine sitting on the booster seat, but as soon as the cape was put on her she freaked out. She kept saying "I stuck, I stuck!" I grabbed a few photos which I'll upload tomorrow.....not sure how good they came out since my glasses were on top of my head and I really couldn't see! She now has a cute little curly bob and we trimmed up her bangs since they were a little uneven. So I'll be back with some new photos!

This is what happens....

2008-12-08T08:20:00.002-05:00

when little girls decide to not take their daily nap!

It was like 6:30 and she was watching Little Monsters (thank goodness for free movies and tv shows on demand!) and running around and loving it. From time to time she likes to sit on the edge of the coffee table and watch tv. So I'm at the computer doing some editing and all the sudden I hear some really loud snoring and there she is.....in her new dress shoes, a pink tutu and no shirt......totally picture worthy!

I'm pretty much done editing photos for 2008 which feels great! I'm working on some business stuff this week, but since there's no rush to get it over with I can take my time. I never imagined that I'd be as busy as I was the second half of the year! It seems like it's been non-stop since the end of August which I'm so thankful for because it makes me value my free time with my family even more.

So with more free time on my hands, I'll be doing some crafting, cleaning, painting and plain old relaxing and playing with Lilly and at the same time taking more photos of her. We both have a little bit of a cold at the moment, but hopefully the snow on the ground will stick around for a couple more days till her cold is gone so I can take her outside!

Oh....

2008-12-06T08:43:00.002-05:00

and a couple pics of Marianna over on Betsy and Justin's blog....

www.betsyandjustin.blogspot.com

An out-take....

2008-12-06T08:25:00.003-05:00

I won't share the rest of Lilly's Christmas photos, but I love this out take of her.....it shows her nice and long lashes....

She actually did pretty well while I was taking her photos, before hand is another story! I'm getting ready right now for my last session of the year and then I can just finish up my editing and stuff and get some much needed family time in. I'm hoping to be completely done with all of my editing and marketing for next year by this time next week, that way I can just enjoy the holidays ahead!

I have a wedding at the end of January in Bennington which is my next scheduled so I'm really looking forward to the break which I'll certainly need as the construction (or deconstruction) in the kitchen begins. We've decided to go down to the hardwood floors and sand them down, nail holes and all! It'll be messy kitchen for awhile (and messy house too) as we get things done, but it'll be worth it in the end. My first instinct is to just tear down the other wall in between the kitchen and dining room, but I know that we'd be biting off more than we can chew financially so that would be a stupid move on my part!

Anyways, time to get ready, hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and that you're staying warm!

2008-12-02T11:31:00.003-05:00

Lillian

2008-11-18T18:17:00.003-05:00

So Lillian had her 2 1/2 year appointment yesterday and she was rather traumatized by the whole thing! She hates being held down, so the moment Dr. Orton put her on the table to start checking her out she started to flip out! She wanted nothing to do with the appointment from that point on. She only had a flu shot which was a good thing. Her growth has finally started to slow down and she's only in the 50th percentile for height and weight. She's doing really well overall which is good to hear. I always get worried because as a kid that stays home and doesn't have day to day interaction with other kids and the fact that she was a preemie I tend to over worry that she'll fall behind. Dr. Orton assured me that she's doing great though which is always good to hear! So here's a new photo of her......
My camera comes tomorrow AND I'm getting a makeover at the Clinique counter in Saratoga which I totally need. I'm pretty sure that I suck at putting my makeup on and need to know what colors are best for me!

I'm about to....

2008-11-16T23:39:00.002-05:00

head to bed but had to share my exciting news!!!! I just added a new tool to my camera bag......the Nikon D700! She doesn't arrive until Thursday, but I'm so excited about the growth I've achieved in less than a year. I tend to doubt myself a lot because I know my previous track record. I got so bored so quickly that I could never stick to anything. Photography has changed all of that for me. Each time I take my camera out of the bag, I know that something new is going to happen and that brings me pure joy. I get to stay home with my daughter, capture memories for my clients and help provide for my family......it's one kick ass occupation if you ask me!!!!

New Website

2008-11-14T15:40:00.002-05:00

So one of the new things that I've been busy doing is transferring everything from my old website over to my new website. I'm still using the same template so it'll be the same for the most part. The new site has a shopping cart though so my clients can order and pay directly through the site. I've already been using it while I got things up and going and giving my clients the temporary website so that I didn't need to worry about transferring the proofing galleries as well. So the new website is up and running and I have A LOT of updating to do on the blog....I think I have like 6 or 7 sessions I still need to post. I'm staying busy till the end of the year and then things will start to dwindle down so I can start focusing on marketing for next year and getting my new camera gear.

My session for tomorrow had to be rescheduled till next weekend because there's a 100% chance of rain so we'll probably work on the kitchen. I picked up some paint samples at Home Depot today and looked at flooring. I'm excited to have a normal looking kitchen and something that I'm comfortable spending time in.

I think that I might take Lillian's Christmas photos tomorrow.....only problem is that she probably won't want to take her dress off once we're done! Anyways, got some things to do so hopefully I'll be back with some Christmas sneak peaks!

You'd think.....

2008-11-08T22:57:00.002-05:00

that as a photographer that I'd be snapping photos of Lillian left and right, but I must admit that I've been very bad lately! I'm going to try and keep up with updating our family blog as things start to slow down this winter. Things have just been so nuts that I often forget to do the little things from time to time like capturing my own child growing up!

And let me tell you.......this kid has a personality and a half!! She cracks me up all day long, even when she does something that she isn't supposed too! I bought her Christmas outfit a couple of weeks ago so I need to take a photo this week so that I can make our Christmas cards as soon as possible. My life is consumed by work at the moment and while it sucks from time to time (I know.....sucks isn't a very lady like word!) I figure that it's just a part of building my business and my name.

In other news the daylight savings time totally kicked my butt this past week and messed with my schedule! I don't want waking up at 7 every morning to be the new daily ritual! I think that's about it for now.....need to get back to work but thought that I would mention that new pics of Lillian will be coming soon!

Busy, busy, busy.....

2008-10-29T00:15:00.003-05:00

that's my life as of right now, which is a good thing most of the time. Busy means I'm making money, and making money is always a good thing.....especially being a stay at home mom! I know I need to share some new photos of Lillian which I plan on doing sometime this week. I also need to take some new photos of the house. Dan is done with the outside for this year. We're saving the front for next year since we have to rent a lift....better to do it right the first time around!

We'll be starting work on the bathroom first. We have to completely gut it other than the tub. New vanity, new toilet, new light fixtures, new tile floor.....basically new everything! We even decided to put in some new windows since the ones in there are probably in the worst shape out of all of the ones in the house! It'll stink once the whole process starts since it's our only bathroom other than the toilet downstairs, but we'll get through it! I'm just ready for there to be some light fixtures in there.....and an exhaust fan!!!

Anyways, the whole reason for this post is that I thought that I would share some of the holiday cards that I'll be offering my clients this year. All orders need to be in by November 20th to ensure that they'll be printed and delivered in time to be sent out. You can check them out better on the photography blog here.

This isn't the path I imagined.....

2008-10-21T23:00:00.004-05:00

I know I've said it a hundred times before, but I am so very thankful that I'm able to do what I do! I always wanted to be a stay at home mom, but it's just such a blessing to not only be able to stay at home with my daughter, but also contribute to my household income. The wedding bookings are starting to come in and I had to make a decision as to how many I'd be willing to shoot......after all.....it does take up an entire "free" day from my family. At the same time, this is part of the price I have to pay to stay at home AND make money. I'm happy that I walked down this path, even with the mistakes along the way because it's made me want even more success in this industry even more. Keeping that in mind, I've decided to add a new little venture to my agenda. I just opened up a little etsy shop which you can check out here. I called it "On Batten's Edge" which I absolutely love! I have a few hand knit photographer accessories up for sale so we'll see how they do! I'm going to try and set myself apart from the others by using hand spun and overall great quality yarns! Anyways, I'll share a photo of Lillian when I wake up tomorrow (well today actually!)......in the meantime here's my add for the store......

2008-10-20T16:51:00.001-05:00

See it bigger on my photo blog here!

Happy Sunday!

2008-10-12T11:18:00.002-05:00

Just a quick post and hoping that the weather wherever you are is as beautiful as it is here in Southern Vermont! We're at peak foliage this weekend and you can certainly tell with all of the tourist driving around (driving 30 miles below the speed limit to look at the oh so pretty leaves.) Me and Dan spent our 5th wedding anniversary yesterday by going out to eat while Lillian spent the night at Nana's house. We were going to go to Saratoga, but Dan didn't feel like driving so we just went to Manchester instead. After dinner we continued a 3 year tradition......Carvel Ice Cream cake for dessert. I opted for the big $25 cake so we'd have lots of left overs......when did ice cream cake become so expensive?!! Lilly should be coming home soon which I'm happy about...it was a nice break, but I do miss her whenever she's gone! One thing I don't miss though is her little messes.......this child can make a clean house dirty in under 5 minutes flat! It's a good thing I love her!

Anyways, I'm going to get back outside and finish cleaning when Lillian gets back for her nap.

Happy Anniversary Dan.....it's been a great ride for the past 5 years and I look forward to the next 50!

A time to reflect.....

2008-10-06T07:16:00.002-05:00

A time to remember.....a time to be thankful.....and a time to find beauty. Words cannot express how much I love Vermont. The people truly are the friendliest there are! I can't even begin to count the number of people that have stopped, either walking or driving their car's along the road to tell us how much they love what we've been doing with the house. I mean seriously, where else would you have complete strangers driving down the road pull into your driveway to tell you how much they love the color of your house?! It's this beauty, this sense of peace that I wanted to try and capture during my couple hour break I had yesterday. A break from what you may ask?! A break from my computer, a break from cleaning (which I admit I've been struggling with lately!) and a break from being a mom and wife. Two hours where all I thought about was whether or not to travel down a road that I've yet to drive down. A time to be thankful for what I have and a time to reflect on what on want for my future. This past weekend, the church in town had it's local Harvest Festival. I loved that I was able to load Lillian up in her red wagon and walk into town! I've been contemplating on possibly putting together some blank greeting cards with some of my photographs on them for some time now and it's when I heard about the festival that a light went off in my head that it's worth a try next year. So I decided to use my me time to take some images of the landscapes around me. I still have a lot more places to go and lots more to capture, but here's a small sampling.....

my bug

2008-09-24T14:46:00.004-05:00

isn't she the sweetest little girl ever?!!!!! I thought I better take some photos of her in her Halloween costume while it's still nice out, so we went out in the backyard yesterday to grab a few shots! She was dancing and singing all over the place and it was really too cute!!!

I know, I know.....

2008-09-22T08:05:00.004-05:00

I haven't been doing a good job taking new pictures of Lillian! You'd think that this blog would be full of them now, but I'm so busy that I forget to just take the camera out and capture her. She's really doing well if I say so myself! She started putting multiple words together and yesterday she told me "I won't do that!" which is more exciting that no for sure!! Her hair is still crazy as can be as you can see from the picture below. I decided that I'm going to let her bangs grow out and since the rest of her hair is starting to fill in I thought we'd wait a little bit longer until she gets it cut......or maybe I'm still just putting it off for some unexplained reason!

Business is booming which is fun, but a lot of work for sure. I take breaks throughout the day when I'm editing to play and read with Lillian, but I really need to make sure that I get out with her more often. I'm taking her to storytime at the library this week to see how she does with other kids. They have a playgroup that meets twice a week as well, but I thought that we'd start off small and go from there! I always said that we'd go, but I really need to make sure that I do it this time because she really needs the interaction with other kids.....especially since she'll be headed to pre-school next year (where does the time go!)

This week I have lots of things to do which include getting prepared for this weekend. I'm headed to Syracuse for 2 days of mini-shoots......eight sessions in two days! Lillian is going with Dan to CT so I don't have to worry about her and can just focus on the job at hand! Each time I've been home lately I've been so busy that I barely have time to visit with my family, much less my extended family! Anyways, I'm going to to do a better job of taking photos of Lillian from now on......promise!!

Wanna see new....

2008-09-14T19:08:00.001-05:00

pictures of the house?! Head on over here to my photography blog where the photos are nice and big!!

Stampin Up Stamp Sets for sale

2008-09-11T21:33:00.005-05:00

So D-Day has come......it's time to let go of the rest of my stamp sets! I haven't stamped in a little over two years and although I loved it, I just don't have the time anymore and they're just sitting in the garage asking to go to a new home. So, here's my list. Shipping for all of them is $5, US only. Set will be shipped via USPS. All sets may have some staining on the wood blocks, but all were cleaned using Stampin Up's Stamp Cleaner. Prices are non-negotiable. If you'd like to be able to see what the stamp set looks like, simply go to www.splitcoaststampers.com and hit gallery in the upper menu. Then select the Stampin Up gallery and it will let you browse the sets by alphabetical order. Most of my sets are retired and are no longer available in the catalogs!

Brighter Tomorrow- $7
Paint Prints- $5
A Little Love- $8- sold
Cute as a Bug- $8-sold
Right at Home- $10
Happy Hearts- $10
Simple Sayings-$7-sold
Beyond the Basics- $4-sold
Itty Bitty- $5
Handmade with Love- $3 (missing one stamp of set of 4)
Simple Wishes- $4-sold
Quick Thinking- $5
Small Script- $7-sold
Pocket Full of Posies- $5-sold
Wild About You- $12
Furnished with Love- $7 (two sets available)
Farm Fresh- $7
On the Farm- $25
Simply Sweet- $7

I only accept Paypal and item will ship same day I receive payment. Any questions, please contact me at carrie at carrieannphotography.com!!!

I still have more......just need to find the boxes in the garage! I'll also be getting rid of some of my cardstock as well and maybe some of my supplies as well so be on the look out for that in the future!

Still Busy, but

2008-09-11T17:12:00.002-05:00

almost done! I only have one more session to edit and then I'm done for a bit! Then it's just ordering once my clients make their choices and I get a 2 week break before I'm at it again! I still need to put my holiday stuff together, but at least now I can focus solely on that! After I'm done with my last session, I'm going to start working on the garage. We're planning on having a yard sale Columbus Day weekend and I know that we have a ton of stuff that we can get rid of. We've had one side of the garage cleared for a little over a month now, but now I need to use that space to get everything into piles for the sale so I'll have to start parking outside again. I'm just ready for that side of the garage to be cleared out!

Not much else is going on here really so this is a rather boring post. I'm going to be going through some of my stampin up stamps tonight and pricing them and placing a list up on my blog. What doesn't sell off of the blog will go onto buy/sell/trade forum at splitcoaststampers and then those that don't sell from that will end up on ebay. It's just time for me to get rid of all of them because they're just sitting in the garage wishing that someone would use them!!

Two posts....

2008-09-03T19:42:00.002-05:00

in one day....oh my!!!! So I'm taking a mini 5 minute break from editing and thought I'd give a little pimp to my friend Holly. She's already well know in the scrapbooking industry so it's not like she needs an introduction or anything, but she's back at designing digital scrapbooking stuff. Her new and fab stuff can be found over at Inspiration Lane here! And of course you can always pick up her paper designs from Pink Paislee all over the web!!

I recently had to remove myself from the one creative team that I was on, Lauren Grier from Sweet Shoppe Designs. I absolutely love her designs, but I wasn't doing her any justice by struggling to meet the month to month minimum which I was having a hard time doing with all of the time that I spend on the computer editing. Some of the ladies are able to crank out layouts left and right and here I am barely able to create the 3 layouts. I know that things are going to get better during the winter months and I'll probably be able to create more, but in the mean time it wasn't fair to her. So.......now when I get the chance and I'm able to have some alone time with no editing involved I'm just going to scrap for me. Not because I have too, but because I want too.

Anyways, I know that was another totally random post! Here's a 20x20 print I created for Matthew and his family.....

If you have a little girl.....

2008-09-03T08:26:00.002-05:00

you need to check out my friend Gabi's Etsy shop here! She makes the sweetest little bows and Lillian absolutely LOVES them! They're actually the only bows that she'll keep in her hair. Gabi even made a little holder for Lillian and painted it with ladybugs since she remembered how much I love ladybugs (how can you not love something that means good luck!) Me and Gabi used to work together when me and Dan were living in Buffalo, NY and her and her husband have the most adorable twin girls that are the same age as Lillian. I was able to meet the girls last time I was out in Buffalo around 2 years ago, but we're working on getting out there so we can both catch up with some friends and finally have the girls meet. Every now and then me and Dan will miss something in particular about Buffalo, but half of the time it involves food which isn't a good enough reason to stay. We both had some great friends that are still out there though so it really would be great to get back there for a visit.

Other than that, we went to the VT state fair yesterday and let me tell you, I'm glad that we only paid $2 to get in!!! It was cute and all, but I would have totally bummed if we had to pay the $10 each for that!! It was even smaller than the Washington County Fair in NY! We did get to see a pig race though and Lillian absolutely loved it. Actually I should say that she loved all of the other kids jumping up and down more so than the pigs! It was nice taking a break from painting the house and editing! I have 4 sessions I need to edit so it will be a week filled with lots of time spent at the computer once again, but after that September won't be busy again until later in the month. Anyways, time to get to work!!!

It's my blog....

2008-08-28T22:31:00.003-05:00

and I can talk about anything I want too!!! Dan always says "why'd you put that on your blog?" Because it's MYYYYYY blog and I can do and say whatever I want.......THAT'S WHY!!!! Anyways, Dan went to bed early so I was actually able to watch the convention. One word.....AMAZING!!! I am so ready for a change and when I cast my vote in November, I hope that millions of other voters will be ready for the same change!

Anyways, I was just looking at this blog and thought to myself.......I really need to change my blog header!!! Lillian was only a year old in that shot and wasn't even walking.........ahhhhhh.......the good old days!!! That's back when I didn't have to chase behind her cleaning up her mess (I give up on some days and just let her do her thing!)......or when I didn't have to worry about her getting up during her nap time and throwing things out of her crib and taking off her poopy diaper and throwing it on the floor while jumping and screaming "I pooh'd, I pooh'd." (I seriously almost died laughing when I opened up the door and saw her all naked jumping up and down!) I seriously need to go to bed now.......my thoughts are very random and I'm not making much sense!!!

Aggravated

2008-08-28T15:01:00.002-05:00

I won't get into the details because that would just be wrong of me, but let me just tell you this......ALWAYS READ THE FINE PRINT!!!!!!! I wrote the fine print and expect it to be read........enough said!

Anyways, today me and Lillian drove up to Rutland to go to Jo-Ann fabrics so I could pick up a few more colors for backdrops for this weekend. We're going back to Syracuse for my dad's annual clam bake that he holds every Labor Day.....clams.....yuck!!! I'll just take a coney and corn on the cob please! I have 3 mini shoots on Saturday and then the bake is on Sunday. We'll be coming home later that night so that Dan can spend all day Monday painting the house. And would you believe that he took Tuesday off.......the man that never takes time off is actually using his vacation days........SHOCKING I KNOW!!! Actually Dan has been doing a really good job at coming home at 5 since we bought the house. And although he gets right to painting when he gets home, I'm glad that he's letting go of the fact that the stuff at work will always be there tomorrow. Anyways, I'm going to be working on Matthew's photos later tonight and tomorrow along with some other stuff. Nothing to exciting and no new pictures of Lillian.....sorry! But remember to check out my photography blog here from time to time......I post all of my sessions over there and the pictures are always nice and big!!

A long day (and week for that matter!)

2008-08-23T20:21:00.003-05:00

Today was a really long day and I'm really sleepy, but it was well worth it. Today I drove 3 hours each way to visit a little boy named Matthew. Matthew has Mito disease complex l and lll and CIPO(chronic intestinal pseudo obstruction.) At 3 1/2 years old, he's about the same size as Lillian. As soon as I walked through the door and I saw him I could tell that he was just about the sweetest little boy ever! You may be wondering why I drove 3 hours to meet him and his family. If you haven't looked at the wording on the lower part of my home page for my website, I'm a volunteer photographer for the Littlest Heroes Project. As a photographer, I donate my time and some prints to the family of a child who is ill. Matthew was my first session for this project and I'm so glad that I joined. I don't know how my photographs turned out, but I do know that while I was there, Matthew's mom Lisa told me that he was the most active he's been all summer long and I'm happy that I was able to capture that for them. I offered to photograph their family once a year with the same stipulations that I'll offer all of my clients through this program......mostly because he was my first and because I'd like to see him again. The ride was a nice one and I think that the money I spent on gas and will spend on the prints out of my own pocket is well worth the memories I'm hopefully creating for them. Anyways, you can learn more about the Littlest Heroes Project here and you can check out Matthew's website here!

In other news, I had two other sessions this past week.....one is proofed and I'm starting the other one tomorrow. I'm trying to have everything done by the time I leave for Syracuse which shouldn't be a problem. I streamlined my proofing while I was doing the wedding so I'm a lot faster and efficient!! Oh and another little tidbit, I'm reading again. My friends kept talking about the Twilight series and how they couldn't put it down. I totally love it! I bought Twilight last week and have been reading a chapter a night. May not seem like much, but I fall asleep easily when I read. I always want to keep on reading, but I know I'll forget if I continue. I guess that's about it. Dan finished stripping the paint of one side of the house and he's going to be priming it tomorrow. And then later in the day we're going to go to the Washington County Fair.....maybe we'll win a fish for Lilly!

The house....

2008-08-20T19:29:00.003-05:00

is coming along nicely! Dan has been working his butt off and it's starting to pay off. We finished the inside of the back porch awhile ago and I thought that I'd finally post some of the pictures. I'm not sure if I mentioned it or not, but Dan ended up using a floor sander because the paint on the floors was in such shape that even painting over it would still be rather dangerous for Lillian (lead paint!) We still have to paint the floor in the upper rear porch, but at least now I can leave the back door open and lock the outside door so that Lillian can play out there. At the moment we can't go out there because Dan is sanding the house and the dust is all over the porch, but it should be cleaned by this weekend since he'll be painting (hopefully!) I really need to take a picture of the side of the house. It going to be such a huge transformation when we're all done. We still have to figure out when and who we're going to hire to paint above the front porch, or if we're going to rent a piece of equipment to do it ourselves......I guess we'll see!! Anyways, here's the pics of the back porch all done....I sanded and put poly on the picnic table that Tobias left us....

Just realized....

2008-08-16T22:21:00.003-05:00

that I haven't had a rant in awhile!! When we were renting I think that my stress level was through the roof. I hated dealing with inconsiderate people. Now though, things are as they should be. We're the youngest couple in the neighborhood so they probably think we're the ones making all the noise. We don't make any noise to speak of anyways, although Dan pressure washing the house to get the paint off can get a bit loud! Dan finished painting most of the back side of the house and now he's onto the side. I pulled up some of the shrubs in the front yard cause they looked like pooh and I couldn't deal with looking at them anymore. That's kind of how I feel about the kitchen and the bathrooms at the moment as well! I don't spend much time in either of those rooms.....particularly the kitchen......that creepy wallpaper gives me the heeby jeebies! I'm ready for that part of the remodel to be over with!

In other news, when I said that my photography business is picking up......I WASN'T KIDDING!!! I have 3 sessions this week and 4 next week. I have 8 sessions next month and hopefully some more will be added. I've gotten 3 inquiries this week about shooting weddings.....one on New Years Eve which could be fun if I get booked! So fingers crossed, next year will be a good year for me and my little business. I'd be happy if I could pay the utility bills and be the one who buys the new windows for the house next year. Oh......and lets not forget buying a new camera.....time to upgrade baby!!!! I'm going with the D300 because I'm weak and don't think I can handle all that the D3 has to offer......maybe someday though! Anyways, I've got some proofing to do tomorrow and some more housework which seems to be never ending.......think we need to have a BIG yard sale at the end of the summer to empty out the garage.....wanna come help?!

A little funny.....

2008-08-12T10:01:00.002-05:00

well not too funny! Last night we had some unexpected visitors in our house.......BATS!!!! Bats are something that we knew were around, mostly because of the river. Bats killing the bugs is a good thing.....bats in your house......not so good!! We know that they're in the attic and we'll be shooing them out once they're done roosting since we don't want the babies to die when the parents leave and never come back. They're not causing any harm at the moment, so we knew it was best to wait until they're ready to leave in a couple of months. So last night I'm sitting at the computer and Dan is watching TV.....all of the sudden he yells "Holy Shit." I look up and there's a bat in the living room!! He was able to make it go into the upper back porch and then get it outside. A couple hours later......another bat!!! This time Dan had had enough and he wasn't going to let this one escape. Long story short, he killed it. I don't think that you're supposed to kill them, but this one wouldn't go out to the porch so it's what he had to do. Where were they coming in you may ask? On the side of the air conditioner where there was a big old space for them to get through! So the air conditioner in the spare bedroom came out and we started trying to figure out what to do to make sure that they don't come back next year. Part of the repairs on the house is making sure that they won't be able to get back into the attic. But we also need to make sure that they don't try to get back in so we're going to be getting some of those ultrasonic devices that drive them batty to make sure they don't come back. So that's my story for the day!!

A little tip from a photographer....

2008-08-07T08:52:00.003-05:00

Next time you're at a wedding, don't do this.....

Really......was it worth the quality of the cell phone picture to get in back of the wedding party? Are you going to blow it up and put it up on your wall.......highly unlikely! You wouldn't get behind the priest in a church ceremony so why do it outdoors! Can I fix this picture? Yes! But it's going to require some work on my part which I'm okay with........seriously though.......don't do this next time you're at an outdoor wedding!!!

Anyways, here's another one of my cutie....

A storyboard

2008-08-05T17:43:00.001-05:00

We went to the park today and I took some photos of Lillian in her new dress.....

Check out the new blog to see it bigger!

A new blog

2008-08-03T10:12:00.002-05:00

So I finally upgraded my photography blog and in time, I may completely transfer our family blog over there as well but I guess we'll see. The new blog is a lot more professional looking and it allows me to place full sized photos as well which is a huge plus in this business!

So you can check it out here (www.carrieannphotography.com/blog/)

Anyways, today is Dan's birthday........the big 3-0!!!!! We're getting old aren't we?! He's outside painting at the moment.....it was supposed to rain all day yesterday so he never painted.....we only ended up getting a few drops. I have some new pictures of the back porch all done and I'll download those later today.

A wedding in the park.....

2008-08-01T13:49:00.001-05:00

Is such a beautiful place for a ceremony....and the Georgi Museum in Shushan, NY is the perfect setting!! Every first in your life can be such a rush of emotions. The first time you see your future wife/husband, your first kiss, your first walk as husband and wife......and last but not least, your first time photographing a wedding! Strangely enough, not a single bone in my body was nervous. My sister Betsy, also known as the assistant sent from heaven above was there to assist me and help me capture Tiffany and Leon's Day. And what a beautiful day it was! The sun was shining and love was in the air......corny I know! At any rate, I had a great time and I thought I'd give them just a little sneak peak of their day.....lots more to come. Thanks again for letting me capture your day!

My Silly Lilly

2008-07-31T07:23:00.000-05:00

Starting to pick up....

2008-07-24T23:20:00.005-05:00

So my photography business is starting to pick up which is fun and scary at the same time! If the whole wedding thing pans out, I'd be happy if I were able to book like 10 or so weddings a year, but I'd like to keep the focus on family and children for the time being. I just love the interactions between families. It's just so much fun and I think that I would miss that if I were to focus solely on weddings. Who knows what the future holds, but hopefully it only gets better from here on out. Here's a couple of shots from my family session this past week.....

In other news, I'm missing Lillian terribly!! She's been in Syracuse since Sunday and it's so strange with it being so quite around here. Mary offered to take her a few days before the wedding so I could prepare myself, which in the end has been a huge help. I've been working on getting the images from the family session edited so I can just focus on the wedding first thing Monday morning. It's going to be quite the experience editing and narrowing down a possible 3,000+ images for a wedding compared to my typical family sessions!! I'm sure I'll be a little overwhelmed at first, but like everything in life, practice makes perfect!!

We're coming along nicely with the house. We put in the new screens on the lower rear porch and Dan's going to work on putting the trim up this weekend. He's also going to start taking the paint off with the power washer. Who knows how long it will take for everything to get done, but it'd be nice if we could be done with the outside within a month. But somehow I highly doubt it with all that's going on!

My impatient, hard working....

2008-07-17T16:32:00.004-05:00

husband decided that painting the house needed to be moved up. I understand the reasoning.....wanting the outside to look nice because everyone sees that first! My thing was getting the lower rear porch sanded because it was in really rough shape and it'd be nice for Lillian to play in there so I can unpack. Well Dan thought that we might as well start the scraping and painting process too while we're at it. Let me tell you........restoring this house is no easy task!! I say restoring because we'd like to keep the original charm that led us to it. How sad would it be to put up aluminum siding? With a lot of hard work, we can bring her back (yes it's a she) to her original beauty. So, we decided to go green!! It's Olivine Green from Behr just in case you're interested and I absolutely love it. The trim.....well....the first one we picked out totally stunk. So rather than risk another wasted gallon of paint, we decided to play it safe and go with a creamy off white. It's not like we're lacking in color or anything.....especially amongst all of the other white houses around us! We were thinking of painting the door black, but I don't think that will look good with the new floor paint which is going to be a dark brown color. So I'm still going to try and take the paint off and stain it.....otherwise I'll just paint it the off white color. I've been painting like a mad woman and sweating buckets to boot! I'm just really excited to see it all finished, though I'm sure it will be awhile considering we still have to get all of the old paint off. Anyways, here's a couple of pics.....

Been awhile....

2008-07-10T15:59:00.003-05:00

I know.....it's been awhile since I posted a picture of Lillian. We went outside today since we finally had some relief from the humidity. I can deal with the heat, but it's the humidity that keeps me inside! Anyways, here she is looking all cute....

I cut her bangs again myself...probably too short once again. For some reason I'm afraid to bring her to the hairdresser! I think a part of it is me trying to deny the fact that she's growing up. She's starting to get so big that I'm probably going to have to make her start walking herself to bed. We'll probably also be removing the front rail from her bed sometime soon....most likely when she gets back from her stay in Syracuse with Grandma and Grandpa where she'll be in a big girl bed all by herself! She'll be there for a whole week so that she'll not only be able to visit but also to give me a break! I'll be shooting my first wedding on the 26th so that week will give me some time to prepare! Anyways, I need to go clean the floor and start preparing dinner.....have I mentioned how much easier it is to clean wood floors.....no more carpets for us!!!!

Oh Snap!!

2008-07-08T22:26:00.004-05:00

So this is what I've been up to while it's been hot and humid outside (you can click on the image to make it larger)....

I just finished all of the details regarding the print packages and what not so I'm ready to start advertising. The packages.....let me tell you......are a steal of a deal!!! You'd totally be crazy NOT to book a party with me!!! If you're interested, be sure to contact me soon since my schedule is starting to fill up!!!

Be the first to book a session from this ad and mention the words "I'm first" and receive a free 11x14!!!

New pics

2008-07-02T10:07:00.002-05:00

So I thought it was time to finally update what we've been looking at for the past couple of days. It was a lot of work, but well worth every drop of sweat. I'm sure we saved a bunch of money doing it ourselves and I happen to think that it turned out okay considering that we've never done it before. There are some water stains that we weren't able to lift with the sander, but I think that it only add to the character of the house. So as you can tell from this pic, things are coming along nicely. I still need to get a couple more sets of curtains and some stuff up on the walls and then we'll be all done with this room.

I'll be stripping the paint off of the front door and staining it since the paint kinda looks icky. Just another one of the many summer projects at the Bombria house this summer......that sounds so strange to me still.....Bombria house......it's actually ours!!!

So our next project is the drywall in the kitchen. We're going to replace it because it's really damaged and I don't think that I can stand looking at the wallpaper much longer. The major kitchen remodel won't happen for a couple of years, mostly because we want to do it right. Tearing down a few walls, getting all new cabinets, appliances, floors, etc. isn't going to be cheap and obviously it isn't something that we're prepared to do right now......I guess now would be a good time to win the lottery! I'm just really proud of all of the work that we've been putting into the house so far......my only wish is that all of the boxes would unpack themselves because I really HATE unpacking....but at least this is the last time right?!

Anyways, not much else is going on. I'm turning the big 2-9 tomorrow.....for the first time too!!! Can't believe I'm that old.....it still feels like I just graduated from high school sometimes. Nothing planned because really....who wants to celebrate your 29th birthday?! Maybe I'll pick up a Carvel Ice Cream cake for myself since Dan will most certainly forget like always (I'm used to it).....he'll remember like a week later though so I guess that's all that matters!!!

The Outside....

2008-06-25T15:58:00.006-05:00

So this is the outside of our house. It was built in 1927 and we have a slate roof. As you can see, the slate needs to be cleaned, but other than that it will probably outlast us as long as we take care of it. Since Dan used to do landscaping, he'll be working his magic with our yard. That big old bush/shrub/whatever it is next to the stairs is coming out. We're going to put raised beds around the house and put some flowers and what not. The beds won't happen until next year, but we'll probably just rip that bush and trim the rest in the meantime. We also plan on taking out the concrete paths out and replacing them with something else. We also need to pave the driveway at some point as well.
Here is the main reason that we're painting this year. The whole house looks like this and with a 2 year old running around it probably isn't the safest having little paint chips all over the place. In all likelihood there's some lead paint involved so we'll be taking extra special care with the scraping and disposal of everything. We're painting it some shade of green....like a moss or sage sorta color with tan accents.
And this......this is where it's at!! This is the Battenkill River from our backyard. The water is a little high at the moment because of all of the rain that we've been getting. It's such a beautiful river and Dan's told that there's a fishing hole right around the bend.....who thought we'd be able to put our waders on and fly fish from our backyard!! We're just going to make a little path to the river and leave the rest as it is because it's part of the habitat for the fish

So when I said that we have a lot of work ahead of us, I wasn't kidding!!! It'll be a complete transformation inside and out!

Whew!!!

2008-06-23T07:59:00.003-05:00

I'm pooped!!! Actually we're both really pooped....or maybe more exhausted....and we haven't even moved in yet! We closed on Friday and started working on the house as soon as we got the keys. We came back and started painting the living room. Pat picked up Lillian after work (which we're so thankful for....no way we would have been able to finish with her running around!) While we were waiting for the paint in the living room to dry we started painting the dining room. It's a dark teal and it was a little shocking at first, but I really like it (need to take pics today of it) Yesterday we spent the day sanding the floor in the living room. We now know why the professionals charge so much to do it......it's A LOT of work. But we saved so much doing it ourselves. It looks like the last time it was done they cut some corners and were a little sloppy with their work. They used a circular sander around the edges of the wall and left some circular marks in the floors. I did my best to remove what I could, but I guess in the end it adds character to the house! So, how about some pics?!

This is our lovely 1970's kitchen....wallpaper and all! We have a lot of longterm goals for this room which include ripping out the the wall of cabinets and moving in the wall on the right. The wall with the sink and fridge will turn into a half wall to open it up to the living room. Since it will be a couple of years until we're able to tackle this, we're going to work on some short term goals. First thing to go is the wallpaper and some of the drywall which is damaged. We're also going to put some of that peel and stick laminate flooring down that looks like tile since the flooring on it now is damaged. We're going to paint the fridge black to go with our new stove. I'm sure once we're done with the short term stuff it will look like a completely different room.....which is certainly a good thing!!

Need a 30 year old stove?

The lovely wallpaper with glitter on it.....seriously......how could this have ever been in style?!

Living Room Before

Living Room After Paint and sanding....Dan also put in new light fixtures and the base and top of the stairs.

Living Room Before.....the main reason we decided to sand the floors!

After sanding. We're staining today......a dark walnut color!

The nice and wide staircase!

Living Room Before

After

Anyways, it's going to be a long week and we're going to be really tired.....but in the end it'll so be worth it. Besides the kitchen stuff that we'll be doing a few weeks our only other major task this year is going to be repainting the outside of the house. We have to completely scrape the entire house. We'll be starting late August so we'll have a little time to relax.....but not too much time. We knew it was going to be a lot of work when we bought it, but it's ours and we can make it our own!!

The day before....

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So it's finally here. Tomorrow is the day where I'll finally feel like a full fledged adult.....silly I know! Renting really sucks. You spend all of this money and in the end you have nothing to show for it. Up until this point, buying our own home was the last piece of the puzzle for me. My family will finally have some roots to plant. Tomorrow is going to be such a whirlwind of a day for us and I'm sure in the process I'll probably shed some tears because of shear joy......and then later on from shear exhaustion! Over the next week we have a long list of things to tackle before the final move which includes.....

Paint Living and Dining Room
Paint Bathroom
Sand, Stain and Seal Wood floors
Install Kitchen Sink Faucet
Install Shower Fixture
Clean Attic
Prep Kitchen and half bath for new floor
Clean up yard

The next few years will be devoted to remodeling the house. We'd like to do the upstairs bathroom later this year and I'm really excited. Next year we're probably going to replace the windows since they're the original ones that came with the house which of course means that they're single pane......not exactly energy efficient!! The biggest task will be the kitchen. We plan on knocking down a few walls and completely opening up the downstairs.

So.....when I get back here this weekend I'll be sure to take some before pictures.....including the beautiful wallpaper in the kitchen.....gotta love that 70's wallpaper that has glitter in it!!!

This....

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Pretty much sums up how we're all feeling here in Bombria land! We're pooped and we're ready for this week to be over with! Lillian has a slight touch of a cold and I'm trying to stay on top of it because I don't want to make another trip to the hospital (knock on wood!) As of right now, our closing is scheduled for Friday at 11 am......it was pushed back a day. What does this mean for us.........a longgggggg Friday night filled with painting 2 rooms that need to be sanded the next day!!! We have to paint the dining room and the family room in one night. I know we'll be able to do, it's just going to be a long day/night!!! We're going to spend the night at the house and put Lillian on the twin bed and me and Dan will sleep on the blow up. Anyways, I just thought that I'd update the blog since it's been awhile!

Maine 2008

2008-06-09T15:47:00.001-05:00

We're Back.....

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and we're tired!!!! It was a long and great week and we certainly loved getting away from everything. The weather wasn't the greatest, but it could have been a lot worse. It rained almost every evening, but for the most part it stayed dry during the day. Lillian did okay.......just

okay.....not great, not horrible.......just okay! It was most certainly a learning experience and something we won't be doing when we have another 2 year old. It goes to show how important a daily routine is to a two year old. Change things up a bit and they just don't know what to do with themselves!!! Don't get me wrong, I loved our vacation. But I want her to love it as well and I'm not sure that she did. She did love the beach though......so much so that she didn't want to leave. She's back to the "normal" Lillian that I know and love now that we're home and I'm happy to report that she slept in her own bed last night. You would think that sleeping in a king size bed would be more than enough room......well not when you sleep with Lilly! Anyways, I'll be editing pics and putting all of them in a slideshow that I'll probably finish up on Monday or Tuesday so in the meantime here are a few from our week.....
First time in the ocean!

A field of Lupine's on the street that our cabin was on

This was the view from our cabin

And this was the view from a rock that I was sitting on while I waited for Dan and Lillian to return from their little adventure on the carriage roads.

Well, we've got a busy week ahead here in Vermont since we're closing on the 20th.....time is just flying by!!

The Countdown Begins

2008-05-29T10:48:00.000-05:00

2 Year Check-up

2008-05-29T09:51:00.002-05:00

My little girl isn't so little anymore! She's still in the 90th percentile for height at 35 1/2 inches tall and she's average weight at 27.5 lbs. She didn't receive any immunizations today but did have some blood drawn which she was not happy about and screamed bloody murder!!! We stopped at the grocery store to get her a donut for being such a good girl. Dr. Orton is happy with her progress and even said that we can get her a tricycle which I'm excited about and we'll probably get her that for her birthday!

Today we're packing for our vacation. So, so, so happy to get away from here and the stress of everything going on. We're leaving at 2 am Saturday morning in hopes that Lillian will sleep for a good portion of the trip. It takes around 8 hours to get there so we'll probably stop for breakfast along the way and then pick up our groceries for the cabin before our check-in time at 1. After we get there we're planning on getting our weekly car pass for Acadia National Park and do the loop around the whole park. We'll be making our own breakfast and lunch for each day and eating out for dinner and ice cream each night! With gas at the current prices, we're pretty much planning on staying on the island......not that we ever really need to go off of the island! We're going to go biking a couple of days, hike a mountain ( a small mountain.....I'm REALLY out of shape.....and I have asthma!!!) I'm not too sure what the plan is with Lillian and her naps. She'll probably only sleep in the car so we'll see what happens. She slept in bed with us the other night so I'm sure everything will be fine in the king size. Anyways, we'll come back from our trip refreshed and hopefully with some great photos to share!!!

Couple more days.....

2008-05-28T09:06:00.003-05:00

until we head off for Maine. I'm so excited to get away from everything, especially our next door neighbors! They are so loud and so rude that it's really stressing me out. They've woken up Lillian a couple of times in the middle of the night this past week because they're playing their surround sound way too loud. A whole week of peace and quite.....CAN'T WAIT!!!! And then when we get back we'll be closing in 12 days!!!! It's still hard to believe that it's finally happening, probably because we're so ready for it to happen.

Anyways, I've been knitting again. I always start a project and never finish. I went to Greenwich this past weekend to buy some good yarn but then when I nearly finished the hat I realized that I had misplaced some of my double point needles to finish it off. So yesterday we went to Manchester and they had such an amazing selection of yarns. She said that they have knitting groups each month so I'm thinking that once things settle down after the move that I'll start going. So here's a pic of Lilly in the finished product....
And then just a sweet one of her with her sweet little smile!!

A photo tells a story....

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and for me, it opened my eyes. Last night, I sat down at my desk and put a memory card in my camera and uploaded the photos from my niece Marianna's baptism in which me and Dan were the godparents. I started going through the images and there it was, in plain sight, a picture of me. I wanted to cry, but I didn't. Actually now thinking about it is bringing tears to my eyes! Basically, I look like crap and that's putting it nicely!!! How did I let myself get to this point?! I'm sure being a SAHM has played some role in it, but it certainly isn't an excuse. I was active in high school and stayed relatively thin......too think that I thought a size 6 meant that I was fat makes me cringe now!! I stayed pretty thin until I got an office job and then it all went down hill from then. And then I got pregnant. I lost 38 pounds throughout most of the pregnancy but gained 10 of it back the week before Lillian was born because of my blood pressure. And now here I am. I hate the way I look and I just can't do this anymore. I want to be proud of what I see in the mirror. And most importantly I want to be around to watch my daughter grow up, and if I stay the way I am I may not have that opportunity. Plus I want to have another child, and it certainly isn't a safe decision to make at this weight. So, you may be asking, what are you going to do to change your current situation.

Well.....at this point, I have a lot of stress, although there's really nothing to be stressed about. But for me, buying our first home and not knowing what to expect is very stressful on me. I go to bed with Dan now around 10 p.m. and get up with Lillian around 7:30, which is certainly more than enough sleep, but I still don't feel rested even though I'm not waking up throughout the night. So, I've decided that the first night that we spend in the house, is the day that I start changing my life. For me I know the biggest thing missing is the activity factor. We'll be living across the street from a great park and I plan on taking full advantage of it. And I also plan on getting Dan in on the action too because we both need a good kick in the butt. I'm just ready to look in the mirror again and be happy with my reflection. Anyways, I knew that if I spoke outloud, that I'd have to hold myself accountable.......so we'll see how this summer goes!!!!

Scrapping....

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isn't something that I have a lot of time for anymore! I'm only on one creative team thankfully and it's been hard enough just meeting my minimums, so I've been trying to do a little better....even with all that's going on this month!

Dan brought down the large boxes from the attic last night and I'm going to start going through them today. I know that I need to get rid of a lot of clothing, stuff that I simply don't fit into anymore. Even if I did lose enough weight to fit back into them I'd still want to get new stuff. I'm hoping to lose a lot of weight when we move into the house. I can't wait till we can enjoy being in our own lawn and having a great park right across the street. Me and Lilly are going to wait to start going to the playgroups at the library until we move.....too much going on right now! Anyways, we'll be spending this beautiful day indoors throwing stuff out and putting stuff together for our first yard sale!!!!

She makes me laugh....

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and she really makes my day!! Lillian has been walking up and down the stairs by herself for the past couple of months. Everything upstairs is just as safe downstairs so she's able to roam freely and play where she likes. So this morning we came downstairs as usual and she got her morning milk and watched a little Noggin. I decided to start the laundry a little earlier than normal (yes I am the worst when it comes to laundry as Dan likes to point out!) and Lilly decided she wanted to go upstairs. Typically she'll turn on her radio and dance or turn on the water in the bathroom sink and brush her teeth. Welllllll.......she was being REALLY quite and that can only mean one thing......she got into something. So I walk upstairs and she's in our bedroom......and her head is COMPLETELY COVERED with Dan's hair gel!!!! I just started laughing hysterically and couldn't help but grab the camera........

answered prayers

2008-05-16T13:34:00.003-05:00

Well, the big man up above was listening to our prayers!! We finally got word back from the bank today and they took a closer look at the flood zone and verified that the house isn't in the flood zone! To say that this has been weighing heavily on our minds the last couple of days would be an understatement. The thought of having to pay that much a year in insurance was doable, but certainly not something that we were looking forward too. I'm really glad that I didn't cancel our vacation......and that we questioned where the flood zone actually was....could you imagine if we didn't! So now the countdown begins....34 days until we close.....WOOHOO!!!!

Life wouldn't be the same....

2008-05-15T07:59:00.002-05:00

without a little bit of drama!! On Tuesday I received an email from the bank.....about something that we didn't want to hear. The appraisal said that the house was in a flood zone. Keep in mind that we were told that the current owner doesn't have flood insurance and that there was paperwork stating that the house wasn't. To make matters worse, we were extremely nervous about the septic inspection. I didn't really sleep Tuesday night and I was a wreck all the way to the inspection. Luck was on our side though. The septic is in great condition and it's been pumped so at least we don't have to worry about it for 4-5 years! We also had the opportunity to meet the seller. You can tell that he really loves the house and is sad to see it go. He lives out on Cape Cod and his daughter just finished her first year of college so he needs the money for that reason. So last night I received a call from our attorney. He received paperwork from 2005 from a private survey that was done on the house that it isn't in a flood zone. The paperwork that the bank uses to determine in the flood zone isn't done on each individual property and it hasn't been updated in quite some time. The backyard is in the flood zone, but the house isn't. We were told by the homeowner that the people that had lived in the house previously were in the house from 1940-2005 and that the house had water in the basement once when the old bridge that spanned the river caused the ice to jam and the water flowed down the street. Since then, the bridge was raised and replaced and the house has never flooded. These are the type's of things that we want to hear. Obviously, with it being on the river, it's always a possibility. But we're hopeful that the bank will accept this paperwork and we won't need the flood insurance. Either way we still want the house, no matter what.

In other news, we decided to go on our vacation. When we received word from the bank about the flood insurance, my first instinct was to cancel. But.....we both need a break. We haven't been on a vacation since our honeymoon and we really want to take Lillian to Maine. We weren't planning on spending a lot of money when we first booked anyways, so we'll just stick to that plan. We don't need to bring back a bunch of crap with us, just a lot of great memories, and those tend to be free! We're going to make our own breakfast and lunch each day and eat out for dinner.....probably pizza a couple of nights at our favorite pizza place on the whole entire earth....Rosalie's......yum!

Anyways, I'm going to think positive about this whole flood insurance deal......what will be, will be!!!

Don't be like mommy....

2008-05-13T07:48:00.004-05:00

when it comes to what she eats! I'm the worst, really I am! I hardly eat any green veggies and I tend to stick to what I know and don't venture off very often. Heck, I only started eating mashed potatoes in the past few years. Corn on the cob is one of my favorites and I could eat it all day long. Lilly's never had it on the cob before so we thought we'd give it a try.....
She really seemed to enjoy it and kept making silly faces as Dan wiped her face. Today we're going to spend time packing the upstairs. Then when Dan gets home I'm going to have him take some of the boxes out of the attic that still have stuff in them downstairs so I can start going through those this week. We could use some positive vibes for tomorrow.....Dan's a bit nervous. We're having the septic inspected and pumped. We're hoping that all is well and that nothing has to be replaced. After that we'll be all set to go!!!

Step back in time!

2008-05-08T23:06:00.003-05:00

It's hard to believe that Lillian is going to be 2 in a few weeks!! Time has flown by way too quickly and it still seems like it was just yesterday when we were taking her home from the NICU. She really is such an amazing little girl. Since I haven't taken any pics of her this week (bad mommy!) I thought I'd post this old video......I still crack up everytime I see it.....she's just so darn cute....

It's

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official now.....he signed the papers!!!

Well....

2008-05-01T12:22:00.005-05:00

unofficially, we're soon to be homeowners! I'm so excited I can't talk.....literally!!! I lost my voice early this morning because of a cold that I have and it's slowly starting to come back. Anyways....long story short we started looking at houses earlier this week. And when I say houses, I mean we only actually walked through two and peeked through the windows of one! So we went to the one that we're buying first. I've been looking at this house for awhile and thought that it was cute and what not. So we walk in and it has this beautiful staircase, wide wood floors and a lot of charm. It has a great backyard that has river frontage on the Battenkill and it's just outside of town, but basically still in town at the same time! So then we go look at the other house. Although it's cheaper and it's been updated, it didn't have the charm that I was looking for. For me, I like it when you walk into a house and you know that the house has so many stories to tell. Basically, I like really old homes!

So fast forward to yesterday, a lot of phone calls and further straining on my voice ends with a call from our realtor that the seller approved our bid. I dropped off the contract today and we're just waiting for the official signing of the papers on his side so we can go ahead and get the inspection done.

I'm not going to sugar-coat the house......it needs work! The kitchen needs to be completely gutted and walls torn down to open it up to the backyard. Both bathrooms need to be done as well. We're also going to sand and re-stain all of the hardwood throughout the house. But, I like the thought of making it our own which is why I probably didn't like the second house. The kitchen and bathrooms are totally liveable now, just not very appealing to the eye. I kind of like the thought that we're restoring the house........kinda like that tv show This Old House!!! Anyways, if you can't tell, I'm happy........we found a great house with lots of potential in a great village with a great school......and a great park right across the street......and outlet shopping 10 miles away.......and a great fly-fishing river in our backyard...........what more could a girl ask for?!!! So here's a couple of pics (not mine!).....

Front of house.....we plan on re-painting the whole house and garage eventually.

Love the staircase and built-in bookcase......charming I tell ya!!

This is the view of the back of the house from the river. The back of the house has upper and lower screened in porch.....and the upper one off of the master bedroom has a vaulted ceiling.....love it!!

Still yucky....

2008-04-29T12:46:00.002-05:00

here and yet another not so nice day to go look at houses! We're going to another house today and back to the one that we liked from yesterday. If we don't like the new house today, it's likely that we "might" be putting in an offer on the one on the river. Even though it's a hard thing to do, I've detached myself from the house. I don't want to get my heart set on it and then lose it. It's a really cute house and although it needs some work, I really think that it has a lot of potential and I know that we could make it ours with a little elbow grease. This area certainly isn't cheap, but it's worth it! Anyways, send positive vibes for the whole house thing.....whichever route we go!

Check out...

2008-04-28T09:34:00.001-05:00

my photography blog here for some new photos! I also have a new section up on my photography site with some more photos! It's a rainy and yucky day here today.....not the greatest day to go look at houses!!! Hopefully the rain will taper off later and we won't need to bring our umbrella's. I'm just really excited to get the process started......and hopefully finished!!

Making good of the bad.....

2008-04-24T13:35:00.003-05:00

I hate today's date, really I do! Sixteen years ago today my mom passed away. It's hard to fathom that she's been gone for more than half my life! I try to make it just like any other day and not focus on the fact that she's not here, but the fact that she was here, even if just for a short while. Me and Lillian went to the bookstore today and to the park. I wanted to pick up a book on potty training and Lillian got a Cookie Monster hand puppet (although I rather enjoy it myself as well!) We then went to our favorite lunch spot, Zoey's, and got a turkey on rye to take with us to the park. We always have a good time at the park and I'm looking forward to finally owning our own home because I won't feel the need to take her to the park each time we go outside!! I think that my mom would have been a great grandma and I do get sad that the fact that she's not here to see Lilly and Marianna......after all, they are two of the cutest little girls around!! Anyways, I think I'm going to finally put Lillian down for her nap and do a little reading......and maybe a little crying.....and then a little nap for myself!!!

I despise....

2008-04-23T15:39:00.002-05:00

disrespectful people! I despise selfish people. I despise people who think that it's okay to play their music at levels which makes the place you're living in shake! I'm the type of person that thinks about other people before myself. Sometimes I know that I really need to think about myself more, but it's just who I am. So say, for instance, I wanted to listen to some music. Is it fun to have your music turned up a little louder.....sure! Is it fun to sing along with your music and not be able to hear your own voice.....sure! Is it respectful to play your music or your surround sound at levels which is disrespectful to your neighbors......HELL NO!!! This my friends, is one of the main reason's we're getting the heck out of here! We knew this was going to be short term....we just wanted to make sure that Dan was happy with his job before buying a home. Would we be in as much of a rush to get out if we didn't have this noise problem.....probably not but we know nothing is going to change. We're not going to rush it as in make a bad decision and just buy a house to get out of here. We'll make sure that it's the right home for us and that we're happy. I just wish that people could have a little more respect.....and seriously......is it too much to ask! I feel like an old person (turning 29 this year.....for the first time!) but I'm seriously over renting!! Anyways, that's my rant for the day.....we're all allowed one every now and then aren't we?!

Think Positive!

2008-04-21T10:56:00.004-05:00

So I'm a firm believer in positive thinking! I know that when I think positive, good things tend to happen and when I think negative....well you get the picture!! So keeping that in mind, I'm going to start the packing process! I have to go through Lillian's clothes and get all of the stuff that she doesn't fit into anymore into boxes. So while I'm at it, I figured I might as well get a head start! I HATE PACKING!!!! So I think that packing a little each week, even though we don't even have a house yet is a good thing. It lets me know that WE WILL have our own home soon. I'm hoping that getting a head start now will help me out in the end. The attic is full o' crap and it really needs to be organized and some stuff thrown out. We'll hopefully be checking out some houses this week so we shall see. Anyways, here's a pic of Lillian at the park on Friday. Lilly has been really good for the most part when I ask her to stop something, the funny part is her reaction. When Lilly misbehaves I always slightly raise my voice and say "Lillian Grace stop".........this is her reaction......

Anyways, if you could send some positive vibes to my sister and niece tomorrow I'd appreciate it. Betsy has to go back to work and while I don't know how it feels, I imagine that tomorrow won't be an easy day for either of them.

YAY!!!!

2008-04-18T14:45:00.008-05:00

We're on the path.......the path to home ownership!! I can't even begin to tell everyone how excited I am!!! I think that the rest of the sentences in this paragraph is just going to be a bunch of exclamation points! Anyways, we got our pre-approval rate today and lets just say that I'm happy. We've gone through this process once before when we were in Buffalo. We had the perfect house, put a bid in and it was accepted. Then we found out it had a contingency bid. Let me tell you, I was crushed!!! But, everything happens for a reason. I LOVE where we are now. It's such a beautiful area and I wouldn't trade it for the world. We've decided to focus on homes within the Arlington School District. Arlington was recently ranked in the top 8% of schools in the country which I happen to think is pretty good, particularly because it's such a small school. I like the thought of my children knowing everyone in their grade, compared to me who didn't even know half the people that walked across the stage at my graduation! So although we haven't even walked through a single house yet, I have this huge smile on my face because it feels like we'll FINALLY be real adults!!!

In other news, me and Lillian went to the park in Arlington yesterday so here's a storyboard of our day.....

For Dan....

2008-04-10T21:43:00.003-05:00

Dan always asks me "why didn't you post that photo of me and Lilly together?" So tonight I thought I'd actually post some!

We actually need to take some family portraits, but I'd like to wait until things start to get a little warmer. Plus I'm hoping we'll be able to take some on our vacation to Maine. I'm so looking forward to our time together. I've been going back and forth on whether or not to get one of those things that they have for kids that look like a back pack with basically a leash coming out of the back. I'm just really worried about her falling off a cliff or something! We'll probably carry her in the backpack thing most of the time, but I do want her to be able to run around and what not and actually enjoy herself. One moment I'm about to buy it and the next moment I change my mind. I don't know what to do! Anyways, wish me luck tomorrow. I have to call the NY department of taxes tomorrow and I'm hoping they won't be rude.......I hate rude people! Here's another photo of Lilly on the tracks.....I used a texture on this one to give it a vintage feel!

Spring is here....

2008-04-08T09:07:00.003-05:00

We found these flowers underneath some leaves that we raked away yesterday. I just love spring don't you?!

So, lots going on here this week. I have lots of things to cross of my never ending to-do list. One thing that I wanted to mention is that if you're from my area and know of a junior in Southern Vermont (not doing NY just yet.....will be soon!) who needs some senior portraits, be sure to shoot me an email at carrie@carrieannphotography.com! I have a senior representative program that I'll be starting shortly and I'll be sending notices to the local schools. Each representative will receive special perks which may include cash incentives for every 3 referrels sent my way as well as print discounts. It's a pretty cool gig if you ask me!!! And if you're ready for a fresh new perspective on senior portraits, I'm the chick you need to call!!! Anyways, time to get back to my list!!

Day at the park

2008-04-06T14:58:00.002-05:00

This weekend was a pretty lazy weekend which was nice! Today we went to the park and broke in Lillian's wagon which she thoroughly enjoyed! We took the loop around and then finished off at the playground. She was having a lot of fun laughing at the other kids and running around....