Thankful for this ADVENTURE...

Happy Thanksgiving to ALL OF YOU!

Aunt GiGi

I am happy to report that GiGi woke up in a better mood today and that she was back to her lovely, beautiful self. Thankfully, the bad days are getting few and far between, and I haven't seen any gray hair pop up on my head yet so I think we are going to get through the worst of it.

We did have a cute conversation last night at bedtime. It went like this:

GiGi: Mommy, how many Aunts do I have?

(We counted them.)

GiGi: Well, when will I get to be an Aunt?

Me: You will become an Aunt when Bubba grows up and has kids of his own. Bubba's kids will call you Aunt GiGi.

GiGi: But when I have kids, they won't call me Aunt, will they?

Me: No, they will call you Mommy.

GiGi: AND I WILL BE ABLE TO CUT MY HAIR WHENEVER I WANT!!!

I wish I always understood her thought process. :)

Tuesday Tantrums

It has been a rough day. GiGi woke up on the wrong side of the bed. It is a terrible occurrence when this happens. You just can't imagine what it is like. First she locked her brother out of the house when I was in the shower which terrified him. I think he thought that his sister would never let him back inside. He has obviously seen GiGi wake up on the wrong side of the bed a time or two.

GiGi's socks were the first thing to set her off. It was as simple as the lines on the toes of her socks...she can't stand the lines, and I am sure all my neighbors are aware of that now. They may have even gone to the store today searching for socks without lines, because I am fairly certain she awoke the entire culdesac. (Mom, please tell me you are not laughing while snickering, "paybacks are H-E double L". No payback should ever be this bad.) Then, the next fit was over her hair. She requested that I fix her hair to look like Mickey Mouse ears. I really did try, but it wasn't up to par for the princess. We compromised after a few more fits...compromising is something we are working on DAILY.

The morning ended by her teacher PEELING her off of me as she screamed, "Mommy, Mommy, wait!" I had to turn around and leave. So that was the first two hours of my day...how was yours????

Dear Tomorrow,
Please be better!

Question of the Day

The GreyGill Fish household receives a lot of Christmas cards that I would love to display throughout the holiday season. At our old house, I simply taped the cards to the two columns that framed our living room. I never really liked the way it looked, but I didn't know a better way to display all the cards that we received. I would like to know how you display your Christmas cards??? I haven't found a display spot in our new house, but would love to receive some ideas from all of you. I will post a picture in a couple of weeks that shows how I decided to display my cards. Suggestions PLEASE!

And of course I can't post without a picture, so here is my Foto Faces Friday pic which makes me giggle. And no this isn't from our Christmas shoot....you will have to wait to see those pictures. :) I hope everyone has a great weekend!

The Y Chromosome

What is GOING ON HERE??? I seriously think the world is being overpopulated with boys, OR maybe it's just because the boys have dominated my photo sessions lately. Yes, that must be it. I guess GiGi will have no problem finding a boyfriend 30 years from now. :) She will have several cuties to choose from.

Enjoy these handsome dudes who have showed off in front of my camera this past week.

Baby Carter

Now that I am getting caught up, I can finally go back and finish up my preview posts, and what better way to start than with an adorable, tiny baby.

I thought it would be fun to post a before and after shot of Mom and Dad....

The lighting was gorgeous under these trees. We were thankful for warm weather that day.

I love this one of Dad and baby Carter. It really shows him as a protector which all Daddy's are.

Congrats K & L. You make a beautiful family of three.

This and That

• Friday night girls night was so much fun. I think I will make it a goal to do it more often.
• I had every intention of taking pictures of all the girls, but caught myself having too much fun and forgot to snap any pictures. Maybe next time.
• I think fall is just about over. I took this picture three weeks ago.

• And this is a picture from this weekend. It is 41 degrees out now.
• I am not a fan of winter. I do not like it one bit. You will never hear me wishing for a white Christmas, but rather to spend Christmas on a sunny beach. I really need to move South for the winter.

• 6 photo shoots in 7 days, plus a full-time job, plus gymnastics, tap, ballet, jazz, piano, hosting a girls night...you get the idea. I have been quite busy, but I am loving it!
• This was one of my favorite pictures of the week.

• GiGi actually asked me to take her picture this weekend. WOW, that was a shocker. She decided she wanted to express herself with big, wild hair and pouty lips. This was all her doing...PEOPLE, I am in trouble with this one!
  
  
  

• She cooperated for one of my hat ideas and then she was done. It was short lived.
• She is ONLY FOUR!
• I can only say that for two more months. She reminds me every day that her birthday is coming after Santa.

• I have only purchased one Christmas present. I usually have my Christmas shopping about 75% completed by now.
• I do not like Christmas shopping, don't enjoy malls or waiting in line to make purchases.
• I think Internet shopping will be a MUST for me this year.
• The gift that GTO picked out from Santa is sold out everywhere; therefore, we will probably have to pay double on eBay. UHHGG!
• My Christmas cards are almost done. YIPPEEE!
• I love getting Christmas cards. It seriously makes my day. It is the only time I go to the mailbox during the year which makes hubby mad. :)
• I will be waiting for all of you to send me a card this year. :) SERIOUSLY!
  
  
• On a final note, did you know that blogger makes it really difficult to add bullet points and pictures to the same post??? It has taken me way to long to post today. EERRR!

Location, Location, Location

I get bored photographing in the same location over and over, and I wish that I could say that our suburb is filled with charming and quaint buildings, public gardens, or funky abandoned alleys, but since that is not the case, I am always looking around for new locations to photograph. The other day, I made a wrong turn and ended up behind a pizza shop which is located by some industrial buildings. I came across this little field where the light cascaded in between a couple of warehouses. I thought to myself, I would like to shoot some family photos here, but who would be willing to allow me to photograph them here??? It just so happens that my best friend called that week to schedule her family Christmas pictures. On the day of the shoot, I called her and told her that I found the perfect place behind the pizza shop. I didn't really go into detail about the location, because I knew what the outcome would be. You see, my friend is prissy, a little high maintenance, and turns into a chicken when it comes to the outdoors. (It's okay for me to write this on my blog. We say it to her face all the time. :) I wasn't at all surprised when my phone rang on the way to the session. It was Mel. "Where exactly is this place? We have already turned down the street. WHAT! You want me to walk through waist high weeds? You have got to be kidding!" After reassuring her that it would be okay and telling her how beautiful her pictures would be, she finally agreed.


So Mel, this is why I asked you to sacrifice your life in those weeds. Beautiful backdrops, glistening light, and the perfect little darlings who weren't scared of the weeds at all. You are very welcome. :)



I will try to get back to posting entire sessions next week. It has been too busy this week to post more than little snippets.


On another note, I am hosting a girls night at my house tonight and am excited for the fun to begin! Oh the stories that will be told at my house tonight...I can't wait!

Photo of the Day

LOOK WHO...

...finally decided to make his debut. It's baby Carter.

I will post more of this sweet baby boy and his overjoyed parents soon. It has been a hectic week and I am barely keeping my head above water. :)

All DONE.

I finally finished up the Christmas pre-k project on Sunday and thought I would show you the final product, but first let me share a few more cuties with you.

I have no idea what got into GiGi that morning, but she was a posing queen. I guess she had to show her friends how its done!

I printed two different pictures of the kids...one for their hanging ornament, and one for their frame. Here are the ornaments...sorry for the weird lighting, my house doesn't have good natural light, but you get the idea.

And here are the frames.

I decided the kids definitely needed to participate in making the gift, so I cut out Christmas trees for them to decorate and glue to their sacks. This is the completed one that GiGi and I did together.

A new crop...

...of babies that is. I am excited to have a new round of babies to photograph in the upcoming year. I find so much joy in photographing infants, and it is something that I want to improve upon.

I am excited to photograph another friend's baby. Doesn't she look gorgeous with that growing belly???

We started giggling as we were snapping these shots, because we realized how lopsided her stomach was. I think there was a little baby booty poking up here.
This is their second child. During the first pregnancy, her husband was deployed so he didn't get to be involved in the first born's photo shoot. We are happy to have him home to share in all the joys of this second pregnancy.

They like to keep the gender a surprise, so we are all so excited to find out what this little one will be. I have guessed boy, but I am always wrong so it is probably a girl.

She is down to the final month so I know everyone is getting anxious to meet this new little one. I, of course will keep you posted with pictures as soon as he/she arrives.

#1 FAN

Remember this little Steelers baby from 9 months ago??? His Daddy is a die hard steelers fan and had just returned from the Superbowl where the Steelers won. Baby Luke was just a few weeks old then. Yes, it has already been 9 months. I can't believe it either. Apparantly, at just 9 months of age, this sweet boy could qualify as the Steelers # 1 fan.

Do you think his Daddy would care if I converted him to a Dallas Cowboys fan? I think blue would be a much better color choice for those beautiful eyes. :)

The Pre-K Kids

You know the heartfelt gifts that you get from your kids at Christmas time...the ones that they make at school that usually involve a hand print or an ornament that they work so hard on? As parents, we love getting those gifts, but because of the struggling economy, GiGi's teachers were hesitant to ask the kids to bring money for supplies for the gifts to be made this year. The school usually hires a lady to come in, and she makes a ceramic piece of artwork with the kids.

I decided it would be fun to take on this project and told the teachers that I would take care of it this year. I gathered up a few jackets and hats from GTO and GiGi's closets and headed up to the school on a sunny morning.

To keep it inexpensive I purchased frames at the dollar store and spray painted them shiny red. I also purchased foam mats to make picture ornaments which will hang on the gift sacks. I will post more pictures and the completed project next week. For now, enjoy these cuties. Oh, and by the way...Princess GiGi has 16 kids in her class. ELEVEN of them are BOYS!

This is the only picture that I did in black and white, but I love how it turned out.

And here is Miss GiGi posing like a pro. :)

I hope the parents are happy with their presents this year. :)