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Today I am thankful for a tear free drop off at Lucy's first day of school and a happy, playful little pumpkin when I returned to pick her up. I think we are going to really like Lucy's teacher. This morning when we were walking in, she told me that she didn't want to go to school. But then when we got to her room and her teacher opened the door, Lucy walked right in and HUGGED her. Lucy never hugs people she doesn't know extremely well, so I felt good about this. Ms. V said that Lucy had a wonderful day. Her class is little, only 8 kids and there were only 5 there today. I think starting out small is much better for Lucy. I really am so proud of her and how well she did. We got frozen yogurt tonight to celebrate being back to school!

I didn't even get Lucy dressed up cute for school today. They talked extensively at the parent's meeting about how important it was to send the kids in very comfy play clothes and shoes. So, unlike my normal self, I listened, and she wore shorts, a tank, and her new tennis shoes. She still looked precious. I cannot wait for the weather to cool off because Lucy has the cutest boots ever for this fall/winter. She is going to be stylin.

A couple of things I am so excited about tomorrow. Number 1 - I am getting a new iPhone. Ever since mine crapped out on me, I have used the phone I had before it. Justin got some Apple gift cards because he has some sort of hook up for anything you can possibly think of and we are both getting new phones. I am SOOOOOOO excited about this. The phone I have been using drops every single call. No lie. It is ridiculous. Number 2 - After the girls naps, I am taking their Christmas pictures. Wish us luck. I know, I know. Seems a little early for Christmas pics, but I am working on getting everything together for La La for Christmas and want to use these pics as part of the promotions and card samples to show clients. You guys are going to die when you see how CRAZY cute their dresses are. I found them on Etsy, which makes me so happy because they are totally unique and original and awesome!!!!! I will hook you guys up with the store once I post the pictures.

If you emailed me about a photography session in Nashville, I have contacted everyone and the spots will be filled on a first come basis. If you emailed me and have not heard back from me, email again because I have had some email issues lately. I hope to get to meet every one of you that emailed me and your precious kids. If you missed that post yesterday and are interested in a La La session while I am in Nashville in early October, email me at info@lala-photography.com to get a spot before they are all filled up.





Smile Lucy. Okay nevermind, don't smile.

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Today I am thankful for the weeds being gone from our front yard flower beds. Andy and June, you would have been so happy with us because as soon as the girls got up this morning, Justin went and got us some breakfast tacos, and then we battled the weeds - which were getting way out of hand. It is far from perfect, but it looks a million times better. I hate it when there are a lot of weeds, but it is such an easier job with two little ones when Justin is home, too. And the girls played so well out in the yard while we got it done. Justin was such a trooper because he got home at 6 am this morning and he still helped me do it. Thanks for not complaining about having to do it even though you were really tired!

We are going to be in the Nashville area at the beginning of October. I know that I have some readers that would like La La photography sessions while I am there. We are trying to figure out exactly what dates we will be in town and it will partly depend on if I have a lot of interest in sessions. So, if you are in the Nashville area and would like to book a session, email me at info@lala-photography.com. I am trying to get an idea of how many would be interested before I book our return flight. Between readers and friends of my sister, I think I could be busy. I will be fresh out of my photography workshop and eager to try out my new tricks!!

I walked in our bathroom late this afternoon and noticed how beautiful the light was in there. The blinds were open from the open house and they are normally closed so I haven't ever really noticed it. You might be seeing a lot of pictures from the bathroom soon! It is always fun to me to find a new place indoors that is good for pictures.

Lucy starts school in the morning. She is a little apprehensive. I think she will be fine though. She had a birthday party this afternoon at a gymnastics place and I have to get her enrolled immediately. She has a natural talent and she LOVES all of the equipment. She has never been on bars before and you should have seen some of the stuff she was doing. It was crazy.

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Today I am thankful for this man and woman at the mall that helped me out when things got a little sticky. First of all, any time I take the girls to the mall by myself, I wear Annie in the Ergo and Lucy is in the stroller. Of course, Lucy rides in the stroller for about 10 minutes and then she wants to walk. Anyway, I probably get told 15 times, every single time, that "You sure do have your hands full!" I am so used to it at this point that it is no big deal, but I guess we look ridiculous to a lot of people. After we finally found some shoes for Lucy for school, we went to the food court to eat. I had just gotten our food and was in the process of getting Annie a highchair and settled. Lucy got mad at me when I put the straw into her juice - which was in a styrofoam cup. So I took the straw out and handed it to her so she could do it. Of course, as I am getting Annie out of the Ergo, Lucy sticks the straw through the styrofoam and within about 5 seconds, her whole drink was EVERYWHERE. I knew Lucy would get upset, so I hardly even reacted. I scooted her further down the bench and started trying to figure out how to deal with this. It spilled all in the highchair for Annie, so I am still holding her. Now Lucy is getting upset because she doesn't have a drink any more. In order to go back and get her another drink, I was going to have to load everyone and everything back up in the stroller and take them with me because it was too far for me to just step away and not take Lucy and our stuff. I didn't have to worry about that because a really kind lady offered to go and get her drink replaced for me. I found a lady who worked there to help us clean up and Lucy got her drink. Crisis averted. That couple could definitely tell that I could use an extra set of hands!! I greatly appreciate kind people.

I love this story, so I have to share. Lee Lee got recognized by a blog reader at the zoo today - and we weren't with her and she wasn't in her hometown!! I have a feeling she is getting a big head for being famous! G - my mom and sister said it was a pleasure meeting you and that your children were just precious! So glad you said hello!! I hope to meet you guys when the girls and I are in town the next time. Lucy has been recognized on several different occasions, but I love that Lee Lee was recognizable!

I had a really awesome day with the girls. They were both in great moods and just fun to be around. We had lots of laughs and snuggles. Little pumpkins.

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Today I am thankful for being able to say that Annie walks more than she scoots around on her bottom now! The past three days, she has just taken off. She is getting so much more steady now that she is more confident in her walking. She is also much quicker. I can honestly say that I didn't think there was any way she would walk before 18 months, but she is just shy of 17 months and she is on the go. She walked all the way from her room, down the hall to my room, and back to her room. This is without me putting her on her feet or encouraging her. She just did it. Go Anners!!

Thanks also to Mandy for yummy dinner and great company this evening. We have not seen our dear friends Mandy and her kids in what feels like a million years. They were out of town for a very long time and we were out of town for a while and then crazy schedules and it has been way too long. The kids fell right back into playing with one another and Mandy and I got to catch up. We missed you guys!!!! A lot.

I am ready to start a new week. This has been a long one. Both girls have been off and I am hoping for a turnaround next week. I plan on doing a major organization project around the house this week and that will make me feel a million times better. I feel like junk is oozing out of our house right now and I cannot stand that. We have so much to sell or get rid of.

Have a wonderful weekend!!

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Today I am thankful for the quiet that falls over the house at bedtime. The past several days have been rather noisy around here. I wrote about Lucy having a horrible day several days ago. She has been much better, but Annie's teeth are driving her crazy and she seriously screams at the top of her lungs if I am not holding her. And she is getting a little mean streak to her. If she thinks anyone - Lucy, Justin, or one of the dogs - is about to try and get near me and stop me from holding her, she will start swinging. And she means business. Why do teeth have to be such a pain in the butt? We are waiting on the two bottom molars and her eye teeth. Please, I beg you, break through. Leave us alone teeth.

Nana and Grandy gave Lucy this Gator 2 Christmas's ago. Until just recently, Lucy has kind of been scared of it and not wanted anything to do with it. But Nana and Grandy, you will be happy to know she is over her fear and she loves the thing!! And Annie loves to be her rider.

I am sticking to my plan and staying on top of work stuff, so I have to go. I hope it stays nice and quiet around here for a long time!

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Today I am thankful that Lucy goes to the doctor with no fuss or freak out. We went through a period when she started crying the second the nurse said her name to go back until we were out the door. It was not fun. I took her to her 3 year appointment today and she was awesome! Of course, suckers have helped the situation greatly. She weighed 26 lbs 3 oz (10th%) and was 36.75 inches long (74th%). She was healthy as could be and didn't even freak out about getting the flu mist in her nose. I was so proud of her.

It was a big day for Miss Lucy Goose because she also met her teacher this morning. She got to go in her classroom for 1 hour while I went to the parent meeting. I knew she would not be pleased about me dropping her off. She talked big for several days about how excited she was to go back to school, but I knew that would change when it was time to say goodbye. I stood outside her door and she calmed down within a minute, so I wasn't too worried. When I came back for her, she was happily playing and in a wonderful mood. I think she is going to get right back into the swing of things in no time.

I have had one of those days where I have felt like I was about to fall asleep standing up. I am not sure why. I really slept just fine last night and have been sleeping okay in general. I just couldn't keep my eyes open. I laid down the entire time the girls were down before Lucy's doctor appointment. Of course I couldn't sleep, but just laying in bed with my eyes closed felt so good. It is going to be an early night for me. I had zero desire to take pictures today. These are just a few snaps of the girls playing after shower and before bed. Lucy is obsessed with lip gloss and her Ariel purse. Tonight she told me she was making me very pretty for the big party I was going to. She dreams up some big ideas in that little head of hers!

Justin has his first of two fantasy football drafts tonight, so I have to go. I am his helper. He is extremely serious about this stuff and I have to say, it is somewhat annoying!! He has been studying players for days now. I actually love football season, but I don't really love how much time gets spent on the computer for fantasy football.

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Today I am thankful for this precious little diner in our neighborhood that is so much fun to take the girls for breakfast. They make Micki Mouse pancakes and both girls LOVE them. The food is so yummy, it is cheap, and it is right in our neighborhood, You often see the same people dining there and the staff is family who knows everyone that comes in. I had a session this morning and then we took the girls for breakfast. Annie was having a fussy morning because her mouth was hurting, but getting out for pancakes made her feel much better. I seriously love breakfast food.

Sorry the pictures are few today and not very exciting at all. The good ones are HERE. Go check out the pics of our cute friends from this morning. Love them!

Both girls got their hair cut today. Well, Annie got her rat tail trimmed in the back, and barely trimmed at that. Even though she was on my lap, she was not too sure about getting her hair cut. You can't even tell on her. But I have wanted to chop Lucy's hair again because it has grown so fast. Ever since I saw sweet P's haircut from Our Golden Child (it is a private blog so I am not linking), I have been dying for that cut on Lucy. Of course, Justin is a big wimp and wouldn't let me cut it near as short in the back as I wanted it, but it is still really darling. Lucy was such a good girl. I took her to my hair girl since we were doing more of a real cut and I wanted it done right. You can't really even see it in the picture of her from tonight because this was after bath and it was a million degrees outside. I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOO ready for fall. I am over 100 degree days. I will work on getting a better picture of it tomorrow night.

Remember when I said that Annie was walking more? Well, right after I posted that she kind of regressed and was walking very little. However, yesterday at therapy she did a lot of walking and today she was walking more than scooting. I got a good video of it. Her coordination is still quite lacking. She is very jerky and wobbly, but she is walking. And she turned in a full half circle today and headed the other direction. So proud of that munchkin.



And this is a silly video of Lucy, but Lee Lee has requested more videos, so here you go! You can get a better idea of her hair here.

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Today I am thankful that I have decided to not allow myself to get bogged down with work stuff. I have so much that I want to do with this business but I seem to get easily overwhelmed by it all. I have a million ideas swirling and a million things that need to get done, but I put it off and put it off. Then I get behind on editing and I think about it all of the time but take forever to get it done. I have made myself promise that I will not let that happen any more. Things are going to get really busy this fall and I need to be ready. I had three sessions last week and I have already gotten every single one of them edited and online for my clients. I have another session in the morning for a close friend. I am excited to do their session because it is two precious little sisters who just adore one another. Anyway, I am going to make really good use of my time that Justin is here for work stuff. I feel really good about all of this. I have found some amazing products that I want to offer my clients and I need to get the samples made so I can show them off.

Lucy had a very rough day today. For whatever reason, she woke up in a rotten mood and stayed that way pretty much all day. It got ugly at the end especially. She totally lost it tonight and you can tell in her pictures that her eyes are still a little swollen. We are all praying for a much calmer and happier day tomorrow.

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Today I am thankful for Justin being home and his schedule calming down a bit. He has pretty much been gone for the past 5+ weeks with a few days home every now and then. We have been just fine, but it is so nice to have him here more regularly. We all miss one another and the girls and I were thrilled to see him this morning. I miss having him around the house to have a conversation with or just be around. Welcome home, Dada! We love you.

I love the picture of Annie reaching for the higher shelf on the dollhouse. She is so short, but she gives it her all. Mom - Lucy and Justin finally got the birdhouse hung up on a tree, and we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of a bird. Lucy is going to be quite annoyed if no little birdie takes advantage of our cozy cottage. Lucy has a strange love of bird houses and her Lee Lee got her this bird house kit for her birthday. And by the way, don't ask me why she is posed so sassy. She is just doing her thing.

Head over to the La La Blog and check out a really fun session from Saturday.

And now a real treat for my beloved readers, two songs by Lucy - Amazing Grace (her favorite song for some reason) and Jesus Loves Me. On Amazing Grace, she occasionally forgets the words and starts mumbling, like she did tonight. It cracks me up.



Is she not just beautiful?!?!

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Today I am thankful for my girls. I am always, and I do mean always, thankful for my girls, but today is one of those days where I really hugged them extra tight and tried to appreciate every moment I share with them. The picture of Lucy above is in honor of Ava Rosemeyer. If you love photography, you will love Ava's mom, who is a truly amazing photographer in Australia. You can read the story of Ava's life on the link above. I feel like it is important to touch on this because what happened to this little girl could happen so easily to anyone's child. The very short version is that she got trapped in a car parked in the direct sun when she was 3.5 years old and after two days of fighting for her little life in the hospital, she was taken back to heaven to be with God. It was an accident that until I read her story, I would have never thought twice about, but now I am very aware of the extreme danger of a hot car. It is important to teach your children that if they get caught in a car and are unable to get out, they should honk the horn over and over until someone comes to help them. Today is Ava's birthday and her mom invited anyone that wanted to come to a tea party in Ava's memory. From the moment I read this post, I knew I wanted to participate. Thank you for reminding me over and over how special every single minute with our children really is. Happy Birthday Ava, Superprincess.

Today is also the first birthday of my precious neighbor, Ava. I think that is why this has been so stuck in my head today. We went to her party this afternoon and she was so cute in her party dress and she just destroyed her cake. She thoroughly enjoyed her cake. I love her so much and just loved watching her. Happy Birthday to you Precious Ava! I have pictures of her but was sick of editing pictures, so they will have to wait a day.

Be sure and kiss your babies a few extra times each day.

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Today I am thankful for being safely back home and having an uneventful drive here. I seriously dread the drive home from my parents. It is not any big deal, but it is 5 hours and there have been times when it has not gone well, at all. Luckily for us all, today was not one of those days. The girls were great and we hit no traffic until the very end. So glad it is done. Thanks a million times over for everything Mom and Dad. We miss you both already.

I have a lot to do again tonight, so I am keeping this short. Be sure and check out the La La Blog later tonight to see a PRECIOUS baby I photographed this morning before we left. She was 2 months old and just stared right at the camera. Such a sweet girl.

I hope everyone has an AWESOME weekend!!