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Congrats Jen T!!!!

Congrats Jen T.  Since you were my 300th comment, I am sending you a Yummy Pumpkin Spice soy candle!  More prizes like this to come! Jen, email me you address so I can send out your candle!

Closeness (Helotes Family Photography)

When I walked into this home, I immediately felt the closeness this family had for each other.  Despite being in that hazy period of life when you have a newborn and a 3 year old, I still felt the closeness of this family and not the stress you sometimes feel when you walk into many homes during this period of life.
This couple worked so well together...taking turns calming the baby down, getting big sister a snack and new clothes, collaborating the types of images they wanted to add,  getting big sis to have fun and laugh.  They were so calm, fun, easy going...even when the baby had a hard time calming down due to the chaos of a family photo session. They were awesome.
The last time I worked with this family was exactly a year ago and their little girl was so shy.  It always amazes me when I see these babies turn into big kids who just shine for the camera....just look and see.

Oh Snap!

When I was a teacher one of my favorite days was the day the pictures came in. Of course I 'oooed' and 'awwwwed' over the precious images of all the little cuties in my class, but what thrilled me even more were the pictures of the kids that were hilarious...weird expressions, closed eyes, funny uncombed hair...those made me laugh for days...sometimes to the point of tears!  I wasn't laughing AT the kids, I just thought it was cute and hysterical.  What were these 'photographers' thinking?  How could you not clean a kids face ,or comb their hair, or just take one more to make sure it was okay.
Well, karma bit me in the a$$ yesterday.  I don't order their school pics but the school sends home Child Find ID cards and I cannot stop laughing at my sons picture (yeah...I'm that kind of mom).  He is a handsome guy, but whew...this picture is going to make awesome blackmail for when he is a teenager! So I had to take a picture of it to post for you (my scanner is broken).

It's a good thing his mom can take some decent pictures!
Please, leave me your captions.

Sarah (Bulverde Family Photography)

Meet my sweet friend Sarah and her daughter (I try to avoid putting kid's names on here).  I know Sarah from my MOPS group and over the past couple of years I have learned more and more what a compassionate and wonderful person she is.  She is also very talented at sewing.  She makes the cutest custom kids clothing. I will try to get pictures of her creations on here in case any of you are interested.
Her daughter warmed up to the camera right away.  She was so sweet, cute, and fun....one of the easiest kids I have ever photographed! Here are some of my favorites from our session. I couldn't put my very favorite on here because she is using it for her Christmas Card.

 

 

 

 

Born to Run

well...not really...running is a struggle for me, but I could not think of a better title. We had a great time at the San Antonio Rock n Roll Marathon.

I did okay.  I improved my time from last year by 10 minutes, but really wanted a better time. It was FUH_REEZING and me feet felt like blocks, but after the first few miles, I felt great. I start off all gung-ho thinking I am gonna rock...I get all fast and intense, but then I really get into the people.

The crowds are amazing...these people who get up early and stand in the cold for hours to cheer on the runners.  They make signs, dress up, cheer and yell.  My favorite cheer group were handing out free beers to the runners at mile 8.  That cracked me up.  I don't know if they realize how much the cheering means to the runners, but it really keeps us going.

I started to slow down for all the little kids.  These little kids stand on the side of the road with their hands out just hoping for a high-five from the runners.  How can I resist that cuteness and dissapoint thise kids?????  So I always slow my stride enought to give high fives to all the hopeful little kids on the side of the road...that is way more fun than acheiving a fast time.

Then there are the other runners.  There was an 89 year old woman, Santa Claus, a man dressed like Tinkerbell, and my favorite...Spartacus...complete with cape and helmet.  Of course I end up talking to other runners around me for a mile of two and the support from the other running women is terrific. 

My husband ran next t me the whole time.  He is normally waaaaay faster than I am, but it meant so much to me that he ran next to me for the entire 13.1 miles.  At times he ran backwards so he could look me in the eye to keep me going and sometimes he would run ahead a bit and then run back to find me...I'm a luck girl. We had a wonderful time.
So, here are my stats:
Half Marathon:
Corall 9
Age: 35
Chip Time: 2:21:00
Gender Place : 4030 / 11,389

Sorry for the lack of pictures.  If I find any, I will post them.

Rock n Roll

I am so excited I can hardly stand it.  Every time I run a race I say I will never do it again and the...her I am, doing it again.

Josh and I have both been nursing wicked colds ( I read that this is common for runners near the end of their training), but know we will both finish.  I am still pretty congested (I even had to cancel a newborn session this morning...didn't want her getting sick), but am SURE I will feel better by the 4am wake up call.  Yep...we are leaving at 4:30 am to get parking.  My husband is kinda like the time-nazi that way.

We went to the expo to pick up our packets and I love the many type of people who run. Each time I run a race I am inspired by young, old, small, big, different ethnicities, and physical challenges in these running groups. Absolutely inspired.

I just want to wish good luck to all my friends out there running this: Annie, Kellie, Doug, Ayla, Katy, many of my MOPS Momma girlfriends.....all of you have many reasons/challenges you could use not to run, but you do it anyway...despite your challenges.  You are the ones who inspire me the most.

My friends who wanted to run but couldn't due to injuries, pregnancy, sickness...I will miss you and be thinking about you.

After the race Josh and I are enjoying the post race fiesta then staying over-night in San Marcos for a big date out....yes, a fun date for us is running a half-marathon...kinda sick.

Mom and Dad, thanks so much for flying out here to watch the kids so Josh and I can have this amazing date.

My Weakness

I have been waiting on pins and needles for Lululemon to come to San Antonio and they are finally at the Quarry...woohooo!  I am not much of a shopper for clothes, but I could spend all day and lots of money in this store.   Lululemon sells the BEST athletic clothes, but not your typical athletic clothes you can get at Academy or Sports Authority....oh no...these are clothes you could actually wear all day and still be really cute!
Also they give you your purchase in a really cool re-useable  bag covered in quotes that inspire you to live a healthier life.

Please don't bite me...

I knew I would love this family when I found out the have Pygmy Goats on their property.  I have always wanted those little rascals and even had some in my class room a few times when I was teaching in Arizona.  This family was a lot of fun and were completely flexible while I dragged them from location to location. 
Their little girl had a bit of trouble warming up to the camera at first (which is very normal and expected), until we got to the ducks.  Then she was a super-star and had me taking pictures of her in all kinds of creative ways!  Those of you that know me know that there are two things that scare the CRAP out of me...clowns and large birds...this includes ducks. I did not want to tell the family that since I was getting great shots and did not want my fear of the birds pecking me to death to compromise their images.  So I sat in the middle of these ducks and shot away.  When we were finished shooting around Satan's feathered demons the ducks, the mom says "Steph, are you afraid of ducks???"  "Uh yeah, why?"  "Because you kept saying  'please don't bite me, please don't bite me'".   The funny thing is that I didn't even realize I was saying that.

 

Pict-o-rama

I decided that I could post some of the images from my holiday sessions.  I am only showing 1 full family image since the rest are under wraps so as not to ruin surprises.

This first one is of my friend Denise and her husband Frank.  They were so generous to let me use their truck and property for the entire day while people they did not know came on and off their property for their sessions. They cleaned it up, cleared a spot for me, and poor Denise even helped Frank push the truck across the yard. They went way out of their way.  They even brought me lunch...how awesome are they?  The truck was actually Frank's in high school.  He sold it and then unexpectedly came across it one day.  He knew it was his because he had made some very specific alterations to the car to make it unique.  It kind of made me emotional when I was taking their family photo because I am sure that when he was going back and forth to football practice in his truck during his teenage years, he had no idea his entire family would be having a portrait done in the same truck...let alone his own son sitting in it holding his football...sniff.  Just look at Denise...isn't she beautiful???? She is just as beautiful on the inside.

This is Seth.  He is a senior in high school and totally p!$$ed off that his mom made the whole family wear matching red shirts.  They threatened the kids with "If you don't let us get at least one good picture, we are going to Target to walk around together!"  I am still laughing at that image and imagining how many people would have stopped to ask them for help...lol...I love creative discipline!

Enjoy the pictures...I'm am going to drink my hot cocoa and watch "Desperate Housewives".

Yay!  I can finally show some samples from one of my holiday sessions with the truck.  I don't want to show too many of them, since they will still be using them for their card and for gifts, but here are a few of my sweet friends: