If you are a fan of my facebook page, then you already know…
We are just days away (I hope!) from releasing a new look here at Sugar Shots…
amongst many other exciting things, things that you other photogs might be interested in knowing about!
Check back soon…
Or just go ahead and join me on facebook and get filled in now!
I’m sure it appears to all of you Blog Readers, that my 2010 New Year’s Resolution must have went a little something like this: 1) blog less 2) be lazy 3) go MIA
BUT! I assure you, this was not the case! I’m still here. I’ve just been so super busy doing “behind the scenes” work that I honestly haven’t been able to bare making myself take the time to prepare images for a blog post! ( Gosh, that really sounds pretty stinkin’ lame, doesn’t it?! But, it’s actually so true! )
Sorry about that, Blog Readers! I promise to start doing better at communicating again… I’ve actually got some exciting stuff to share with you, but not quite yet (although, if you are a fan of my facebook page, you’ll probably hear about my exciting news sooner!).
Until then, enjoy these images from my oldest daughters’ most recent photo session…. She loves being in front of my camera. And, I think my camera loves her to be there too. :)
She looks so sweet here:
Adding this tree branch as a prop was her idea and I LOVE it!! So goofy and SO her:
And, lastly, my without-a-doubt favorite from the whole day…
xox, reata
It’s been a long night tonight… The road from after school piano lessons to dinner to bathtime to dance party showtime to hairdrying time to teethbrushing time to story reading time where I quite literally fell asleep about 7 or 8 times during the course of 1 Power Puff Girls book only to find my 5 year old poking me to right now at this very moment has been paved with lots of little bumps. No huge bumps, but just little bumps that get under your skin and annoy… Oh, you know, things like: the dinner recipe I tried for the first time tonight proved to be anything other than edible which meant a replacment dinner had to be made; bathtime turned into “soap got in my eyes” tears; dance party time turned into a debate on who actually got the most dancing time on the fireplace stage, etc, etc… You know, those kind of bumps. Every family has those kind of days, right?!
But, just when I thought my evening was coming to a much desired quiet and restful place, I get a phone call from my mom…
And the words she tells me shakes my world for a second and then I gasped and the tears fell. ”Precious died.”
Precious is my childhood cat. I got her for my birthday when I was in third grade. Third grade. Seriously…. Third grade!!! For those of you who don’t know how old I am, I am 29. I got her when I turned 9. This sweet, little cat has been in my life for 20 years… seems like my whole life. I can still remember her soft pink nose, fluffy black and white hair, and beautiful green eyes peeking up at me out of the gift bag and the intense excitement that rushed my body. She was all mine and intended to take good care of her. And I did… we played dress up, she rode in a baby buggy with my baby dolls, she snuggled with me, she played cat games… She was always very sweet. (Well, except for that time she was batting at my hair and her claw got stuck in the delicate skin on the fold of my ear… That wasn’t very sweet. But, I think she apologized for that right away.)
Although I feel sad that she’s gone, I’m actually glad she’s finally resting. These last few years haven’t been that easy on her… and especially these last few weeks. She looked like a totally differnt cat yesterday when I saw her and petted her tiny little body. I plan on remember the plush, healthy, bouncy kitty in doll clothes.
When I decided to write this post, I planned on ending it with a photo of Precious… but oddly enough, I can’t seem to find one. I think they are all at my mom’s house. So, instead, I will post a photo of something that makes me feel really happy inside… My 5 year old.
xox, reata
This weekend was grand… So many little common, everyday memories to try and keep in my heart forever.
♥ baking with the all three girls while looking fabulous in anthropologie aprons (yes, even my 2 yr old had on an anthro apron!).
♥ visiting with my dad, who is currently fighting stage 4 cancer, and watching his eyes light up and a smile flash across his lips as my two year old lovingly calls him PeeWee.
♥ watching my 3 girls play barbies, pet shops, and ice-skating-dance-show together without any arguing.
♥ dining at IHOP with my family only to realize afterwards that we could have made the same meal at home for about $27.68 cheaper… and then laughing and making jokes about it with my husband for the remainder of the night.
♥ making a connection with a fabulous children’s clothing designer and the excitement that followed an accepted proposal to do business together.
♥ having my ten year old ask beg to spend the night on my bedroom floor and then follow me around for the entire night as I did random chores… just making conversation.
♥ cuddling with before mentioned ten year old in the morning, after she somehow made it to my bed in the middle of the night.
♥ going on a mini photo shoot with my husband Chris so he could shoot my photos for a little project I’m working on. Then, loosing my handcrafted prop which you see in the photo at the top of this page. Which of course was followed by driving around town looking for the handcrafted prop which apparently blew out of the car at some point…. finally, finding it and then freezing my patootie off as I tried to look cool in my pictures. Only, I probably just looked like a nut wearing inappropriate warm weather clothing on a insanely cold day.
♥ happy that Chris happened to snap up these two back-to-back photos to help me remember:
xox, reata
I had no idea I lived in the Artic Circle. This morning, as I stumbled out of bed grabbing my plush, warm robe with my eyes still half shut, I had no idea that serious arctic temperatures were upon my house. I made way to the door to let Toto, our little dog, out to potty… and as soon as I opened the door I got smacked in the face by a 25 degree wind. Talk about a wake up call! What’s more is that with the windchill factor it felt like 12. Yes, TWELVE!! That doesn’t happen all that often in my little corner of the world… Actually, come to think of it, this entire winter season seems like it’s been very atypical, being one of the most consistantly cold winters we’ve seen in a while. Typically, our winters comprise of a string of short lived cold fronts… but the cold weather this winter has been unchanging with only a few warm days here and there. And, to top it off, the weather actually yeilded a day of snow at the beginning of December. Now, I don’t know if it will snow today, but I do know that it was cold enough to freeze the standing water on my driveway this morning (Aw man! I missed my chance to go driveway iceskating!). Tonight it’s supposed to be in the teens… pretty awesome, if you ask me!
So. Houston and surrounding areas: Be sure to drink some hot cocoa, make some s’mores, and put those heaters on high tonight!
And because no post is complete without a photo… Here are a couple of my two youngest and a friend of ours from the beginning of December when it snowed.
A3 being frightened of the curiously cold white flakes falling from the sky:
xox, reata
Wow! I can’t believe that 2009 is over and 2010 is here! The entire year slipped by so quickly and my internal calendar is still reading um…. September-ish. It’s been an incredible year for me personally and also in my business. A special heartfelt THANK YOU goes out to ALL the wonderful clients that passed in front of my camera this year. Thank you so much for letting me slip into your family, mingle, and take some photos!! It was surely a fun filled time and I won’t forget a single one of you! And, I hope that I’ll be hearing from you all again in 2010! I love it when I get to work with the same family over and over again…. see how their family has changed, grown -up, and yet somehow remained the same. Completely incredible.
Now, I know some of you have been wondering where the heck I’ve been… I’ve been a slacker these past two weeks, right? Wrong! I’ve been a wife, mother, daughter, friend, and, quite frankly, anything other than a professional photographer. I spent a complete two weeks hanging day-in and day-out with my husband (who was also on break from work), my three lovely girls, our dog Toto, and all the Grandmas, Pee-Wees, Pops, Mimis, Aunts, Uncles, and cousins one can have! It’s been a blast needless to say… But sadly, the fun break is over and it’s time to get back to work! I am SO looking forward to what 2010 has in store! And, I am so excited to get back behind my camera and really put on my thinking cap to come up with some cool new session ideas!
Bring it, 2010.
Hold up a minute though. Before I bid 2009 a sweet farewell, I must fulfill a promise I made to my 5 year old, A2. Binky must. get. more. internet. coverage. Sorry Binky. I meant to post updates on your every move this holiday season… But, life was just a wee bit too entertaining and the family gatherings were aplenty. So, sue me!?!
Here you can see Binky freezin his patootie off in the fridge while pulling a prank on the little ones…
And, here you see him the next day trying to warm back up after nearly suffering from freezer burn.
And then, we skip ahead a bit and you see him here waiting for Santa on Christmas Eve… Luckily enough, he reported that all three of my girls should be on the NICE list.
By the way, the carrots on the plate were for the reindeer… Not Santa. Our house doesn’t buy into the whole “Santa needs to go on a diet” thing.
And, just for fun… Here is our tree looking rather sparkly.
And my favorite new ornaments from 2009…
The girls made these at A2′s Christmas themed birthday party!
Oh and this look sums it all up for me… Total surprise and excitement!
And, this fluffy hair and sleepy look are perfection. Love it.
And, something tells me that Santa would have brought this little beauty anything her heart desires this year. Seriously. Baby Dolls. Diamonds. Ferraris. A vacation home in Greece. Anything.
But, she was happy just walking down the stairs with all her stuffed animal buddies in tow and recieve a new, modest form of transportation…
There you have it, folks… My Christmas in nutshell.
I told my husband the other day that I think this was our BEST Christmas EVER! Really. Everything was perfect. What a sensational way to close out a fabulous year!
Here’s to the start of a wonderful 2010!
xox, reata