Taking Requests

A while back a loyal reader sent me a request to please put Baby Bennett in a pumpkin for Halloween.  I know it's a rather random request, but hey I'm always up for a challenge.  So here he is Mr. Bennett rocking out a pumpkin.  His Dad was not a fan of this photo opportunity but he was the one to carve the pumpkin???? So maybe deep down he really is a fan.  He would probably be even less of a fan if he knew how difficult it was to get Bennett out of this pumpkin!  

Dear Jill,

Today my Mom put me in a pumpkin.  She swears it wasn't her idea, and is blaming you for this humiliating photo.  All I have to say is this better secure me at least Ring Bearer status when the time comes.  If you think I look good in a pumpkin I'll really look good in a tux.  Next time you have a "great idea" why don't you share the wealth with my big brother or even better one of my many cousins.

Happy Halloween!

Love,

Bennett

Jack Be Nimble, Jack Be Quick

No seriously…Jack BE QUICK!  Jack is certainly on the move these days but luckily for this photographer he is on the move with a smile on his face.  You will see from the pictures below that Jack is a very happy go lucky little boy and I just can't get enough of him.  He has a pep in his step and a leg kick that would make DJ Lance Rock proud (another Yo Gabba Gabba reference, what is this world coming to!)

  
You'll notice there are two pumpkins in the above picture. Well you see Jack's mom is having a baby, so that wee little pumpkin represents the wee little pumpkin that is growing in her belly. We'll pretend like that was all planned out really nicely for the picture when in reality Jack just fell in love with that little pumpkin at the pumpkin patch and had to bring it home with him. Thank you Jack for feeding my prop obsession!

Life Lessons

Well it is no real secret that I don't LOVE the show Yo Gabba Gabba, but I have to give credit where credit is due.  Yo Gabba Gabba has successfully taught Nolan this holiday season that eating too much candy will hurt his tummy, which in turn has made it rather easy to ration his candy intake.  Tonight at dinner here is the conversation that we had while enjoying our excellent "sert" (Nolan's word for dessert) prepared for us by Grandma Kuntz….

Nolan:  Mom, can I be done with my cake now?
Me:  Well of course, why?
Nolan:  My tummy says it's full, it says Darci I'm full no more cake for me.
Me:  Oh your tummy said that?
Nolan:  Yep…feel it, it's really full.  I need to go to the bathroom.

Well you see where this is going, I'll spare you the rest of the details.  For some reason I find it really funny when Nolan uses my actual name instead of Mommy.  I have to admit I've never loved my name more than when I hear it in his sweet little voice.

Superhero Invasion

A few weeks ago I posted a "teaser" from Nolan's birthday party.  You see the problem is I took like 200 pictures at the party (not a lie) and I needed to take some time to dig through them all and find out what I wanted to share on the blog.  Needless to say it was a daunting task, but someone had to do it.

This was a really fun year for Nolan's birthday.  He is finally at the age where he gets really excited about things and understands what it all means.  When I originally asked him what kind of party he wanted I believe his response was "I want to blow out the candles".  Hmmm, check I think we can handle candles.  But what would a 3 year old's birthday party be without a theme?  So I took it upon myself to decide that he needed a superhero party because let's be honest that's all the kid cares about these days.  Nolan was SO excited about his party I can't even put it into words.  This year we decided to move his party to the park so that the kids could burn some energy while the parents could relax and "supervise" from afar.  Perfection…and I didn't have to clean my house BONUS!

Here are a few of the details…basically the idea was to make it look like comic books threw up all over the party.  I went for more of a "vintage" superhero theme, because in my head that made it less cheesey.

We attempted to get a family photo at this joyous occasion because we have yet to get a picture of the four of us together.  The one on the left was the "best" of the bunch.  The one on the right is one I wanted to share because let's be honest folks life isn't always perfect.  So Nolan go ahead and pick your nose and Bennett scream your head off…it's cool sometimes I feel like doing the same things.

Here is Nolan getting to do the one thing he requested…blowing out those candles.  Some things have changed since his first and second birthday…for example he blew out the candle on his first try this year.  Some things however have not changed at all…for example his inability to get the icing in his mouth as opposed to all over his face.  Next year we will be having a snow themed party complete with white icing on the cupcakes.

I don't really know where to start with this next set of pictures.  We played a game called "capture the villain" .  Basically all the kids got a can of silly string and they had to find the villain (the Joker) and shoot him up.  Sounds fun right?  Hmmmm.  Small problem, Nolan was TERRIFIED of the Joker costume.  The Joker came around the corner and one child started screaming/crying and it was none other than...the birthday boy.  Before you think I'm an awful mom let me tell you how much we prepared for this game.  We showed him the costume, I wore the mask, Chad wore the mask, Nolan wore the mask, we talked about Uncle Eric dressing up as the Joker.  I honestly don't know what else we could have done.  Don't worry folks he stopped screaming and joined in the fun and to date there have been no nightmares to report.  A huge thank you to Uncle Eric for being our friendly Joker.  

Here is a picture of Nolan with all of his cousins.  Scary crew if you ask me.   You may have also noticed all of the capes the kids are wearing in the pictures.  These capes were made with love by Nolan's Grandma.  It might be the last time she ever volunteers to help me again, but I have to say it was worth it.  

Here are some of the fine partygoers, even some "in utero" who don't know that they are going to be superhero fans but they are.  They already have super-bibs awaiting their arrival.

Just a few shots of my little birthday boy enjoying his big day. Notice how we snuck that Joker in for a little photo opportunity.  He'll freak when he sees it but someday he will thank me for documenting it…right?

Goats, Giggles and Ulysses S Grant

That's right folks our latest adventure landed us at none other than Grant's Farm.  I'm not sure the boys appreciate the history behind this fine establishment (honestly I'm not sure I do either) but they sure thought the goats and snow cones were pretty cool.  Not only did we feed the goats, talk to a camel, eat a snow cone and ride a carousel we also drum roll please…….watched the animal encounter show! WOW.  The animal encounter show might be the same show they did when I was a kid and to be honest it left a little bit to be desired.  However, Nolan thought the owl flying right above our heads was pretty cool so all was good with the world.  You'll see that Bennett actually got out of the stroller for a bit this time and embraced the camera with his Mommy...and then he went back to sleep.  He apparently was not so impressed by the owl soaring above his head.

Who knew feeding goats could be so fun?  

The boys were really enjoying their snow cones on this beautiful fall day.  Bennett, poor Bennett, was just dreaming about the day he will get his hands on that sugary goodness.

I'm not exactly sure what the boys were looking at here, but I'm thinking it was an awesome mini horse.  And really what's cooler than a mini horse?

Halloween Hoedown

Well it was that time of year again, time to head out to the farm and engage in reckless activities for the day.  I'm happy to report that there were no major injuries, I mean my sister in law may or may not have gotten run over by the Jeep…but no major damage just a little limping.  Thankfully my kiddos went home with Grandpa and Grandma so I could engage in reckless activities as well.  What kind of parent would I be to play flip-cup and beer pong in the presence of my children…oh I would be Bill and Stephanie that's right (a little blog war humor…sorry Stephanie you called my kid a nerd remember?).  So here are a few pictures to document the day, I'll try and explain what I can.

Let me start with a couple pictures of my precious boys.  Nolan was on the move all day and TOTALLY exhausted by the time he went home.  Bennett was just taking it all in, next year should be interesting (I think interesting is my nice way of saying miserable).

Here are a few snapshots of all the kids in action.  There was face painting, power wheel driving, hayrides, jeep rides….a kid's dream really.

Now it was finally time for some adult time, but these were the two party poopers of the day who decided they needed to go home.  LAME.  I think they were scared of the fact that I'm now off the disabled list and was ready for all the drinking games.  They should have been scared…keep scrolling.

Let the games begin. We started with flip-cup, tried to show those little college kids who was the boss.  In the end I just felt old, apparently rules have changed and now you go up the line and then back down the line.  That's just crazy (and by crazy I mean awesome).  Our more "seasoned" team started out rusty, but in the end we got it together and ran those kids off the table.  Next we moved on to beer pong.  I've never claimed to be that great at this game…until now.  Zach and I dominated against Jill and Bridget…yet they still managed to get in our victory picture below (RUDE).

Just a few party pics….

And just because it's always funny when Curtis decides to take his shirt off.  Please note he blessed us with this fine exposure not once but twice at this fine event.  He never disappoints.

Poor Kid

Bennett has the pleasure of spending the day with his coo-coo mother who really has nothing to do today, at least nothing she really wants to do (wow I really hope Chad doesn't read this on a regular basis).  So what does that mean?  We broke out the camera…DUH!  He is starting to bless us with some killer smiles these days and it's pretty awesome.  I haven't mastered catching them on camera to their fullest extent yet, but I'm getting close.  It's hard without an assistant…might need to rope Nolan into helping me next time.

Nichols Family

For this photo session we decided to take a little journey up to the family farm.  I figured this is going to be a special place for the two young men in these pictures in the coming years, so why not document them in their element.  With the farm as a setting I was inspired by a more rustic feel for my pictures, thanks to the Nichols family for humoring me.  Tractors and all.

And a few outtakes just for fun….

 

Violet 11 Weeks

Well for those of you that know Violet you know that she is well over 11 weeks now, apparently I am super duper behind on posting pictures these days.  I hate to blame this beautiful baby boy that is sitting right next to me, but I'm going to go ahead and do it.  Yep, I'm playing the "busy mom" card.  Anyway, just wanted to share a few pictures of Violet that I took a while back.  I won't lie, she was not in the mood for picture taking on this fine day.  But I'm used to that, I've been dealing with Nolan for 3 years now and I think in 3 years he has enjoyed getting his picture taken once.  I've already contacted Violet's agent and we are going to have a re-do very shortly, so be looking for those pictures coming soon.

Even when she doesn't want a camera in her face she's still precious….

Woldanski Family

Meet the Woldanski Family.  They too are a family of three that will soon be expanding to a family of four!  Noah is going to have a little sister soon and I think he will do excellent in his new role.  He is a very energetic little boy who likes all the typical boy things: dirt, sticks, farting noises, spitting…the whole shebang.  So as long as I could conjure up some funny noises every once in a while we were good to go for this photo session!

Enjoy…can't wait to meet Baby G at our next session!

Darnell Family

This past weekend I got to spend a little time with the Darnell family.  They wanted to capture a few pictures of their family of three, before they become a family of four in November.  I have to say that I give them all sorts of credit for being patient enough to not find out what they are having.  Crazy right?  I mean people still do that?  Both times I was pregnant I tried really hard to not find out, and ALMOST did it, but when that moment comes and they say "do you want to know"….I cave.  I had a friend tell me once that finding out what you are having is like finding out your presents before Christmas morning and ruining the surprise.  I think they might be partially right, I just figure I like to have my surprises a little early.  The Darnells are going to have one great surprise in November and I can't wait to hear what it is!