2 months

2 years

i have taken mister weston’s pictures….since before he was even born:)  and i love doing it just as much if not more every time!  he’s getting so big, and becoming such a sweet boy!  just look at how much he loves his momma:)

grease is a part of me.  that might sound weird or crazy, but it seriously is.  when i was 6, it was the theme of my dance studio’s recital.  well, that was a big deal for many reasons, but mainly because i fell in love with the music from day one.  my ballet dance was to Summer Nights.  i remember my mom renting the movie, letting me watch a few select scenes, but mostly fast forwarding:)  i couldn’t have been much older before i saw it in it’s entirety.  so began my love for john travolta.  seriously.  he was my first real crush.

so you can imagine my excitement when i was a  freshmen, my high school drama teacher decided that we would do grease for our big production that year.  i had just had a lead part as alice in alice in wonderland earlier in the year, so there really wasn’t much chance for me to nab a major part in it.  but i got to be in almost every scene, and i learned almost every part. myself and a few others choreographed the show, and i made quite a few costumes.  i still have my rydell cheer leading uniform and a poodle skirt in the attic.  (i’m holding on to MANY costumes from my childhood in case i have a girl someday…she will have the BEST dress up ever!)  i owned the movie, and the soundtrack, and i watched and listened all the time:)  okay, i still do:)

now for the point of all of this:

for the last 2 weeks, eric has told me that on thursday the 23rd we were taking some of his clients out to dinner.  that afternoon we got ready, sam showed up to watch the kids, and we headed into portland.  eric was acting a little weird, but i tried to ignore that…he said we were going to some chinese restaraunt, but that he didn’t remember what it was called.  wierd.  but i went along with it anyway:)  we parked in a parking garage and got out, walked down the street and around the corner was……a BIG grease poster.  and he told me that we were going to see it.  i don’t know if i have ever been so excited!!!  i’m not easy to surprise, i like details…but i’m so glad that i didn’t ruin this.  i had thought at the most he might be taking me out for a nice dinner, never could i have imagined this.

he had a hard time finding tickets to the show, but finally found a pair on craigslist, and we were supposed to meet the lady out front of the theater before the show to get them.  well, we never found her,  just as we were contemplating just going out to a nice dinner (seriously the thought that he did this for me was about as big as seeing the show) an older couple walked by holding up a pair of tickets.  eric quickly went up to them and asked if they were selling them, and they just handed them to us.  when eric asked how much, they said “just enjoy the show”.  seriously.  when i had heard that grease was coming to portland, i had mentioned to eric that i would love to see it, and he said that after checking the ticket prices there was no way could swing it right now.  so i knew that we had just been really blessed by this super nice couple. after many quick thank yous, we headed into the theater, grabbed a bag of cashews, and moved toward our seats.  we were seated in the FIFTH ROW!  we could see everything.  every facial expression, every detail…i was in heaven.  everyone around me just sat back and enjoyed the show, and i was literally on the edge of my seat, dancing and mouthing every word as discretely as possible.  my face hurt from smiling the whole time!  i don’t think eric had any idea how happy this would make me!  to top it off, taylor hicks form american idol was teen angel.  it was so awesome!  he even broke out his harmonica as he was going “to that malt shop in the sky” and played some of beauty school drop out on it!  so cool!  he performed at the end of the show after the curtain calls, too!

it’s funny how as i get older i have a need to find the things that made me who i am.  i have no connection to the stage at this point in my life (other than my living room floor and my audience of two little boys:).  yet, that was a huge part of what made me who i am today. 16 years of dancing, acting and performing.   it made me want to find a way to share that with my family, my children.

all because of grease.  and my sweet man.  thank you eric…i love you!

last saturday morning i met these three adorable little ones and their parents out in the orchard.  it was a gorgeous morning, but a little bit on the cold side…okay, a lot on the cold side!  but the kids did great, and we got some beautiful pictures…just look at their eyes!

jenn and eric…you have three beautiful, and sweet children!  thank you for having me take their pictures.  i hope you love them!

better late than never:)  i’m just now getting to all of our easter pictures.  i think my favorite pictures every year are of the boys coloring eggs.  so here they are for your viewing pleasure ;)

here they are on easter morning.  let’s just say that they started on the candy early….and yes, that’s bob marley on eli’s shirt…gotta love it.

dylan’s mouth was full, and i love his expression.  eli’s bedhead is my favorite.

we read this really great children’s book the night before about easter, it explained Jesus’ death and the resurrection very well, and on their level.  it brought up a lot of questions.  also the last couple of weeks eli has been soaking in these audio bible stories that i picked up.  he always listens to audio books when he plays, and before he falls asleep at night, and the bible stories haven’t come out of his cd player since i brought them home.

anyway, on easter morning, eric’s sister asked eli what he has been up to lately, to which he replied:

“ive really been getting into God lately…”

and he’s been praying like crazy.  the other night he was sick, and he really wanted to get better so he could go to a birthday party the next day.  at about 3AM i heard him taking loudly in his room.  i went in and asked him to be quiet because everyone was sleeping, and told him he needed to go to sleep too.  he said “but mom, i’m praying that i’ll feel better in the morning.”  i went on to explain that God can hear our whispers….

man i love my boy:)

another easter post is coming soon….

this beautiful family is even more beautiful and sweet then they look:)  i can’t tell you how much i enjoyed photographing them!  jaden is in eli and dylan’s preschool class, and miss isabel is my girl:)  it’s so great that my boys have found a friend like jaden, and i’m so happy to have been given the opportunity to get to know his momma!   they are so gracious to have given me a chance to take pictures and schedule a few sessions on their property…i can’t wait until the peaches are weighing down all of those branches….thanks guys for having me out, and you know i’ll be back ;)

enjoy the pictures…

i’ve had the opportunity to spend some extra one on one with eli lately.  he was sick last week, so while dylan had a full week of school and a birthday party, eli stayed home with me.  and it couldn’t have come at a better time.  my boy is so special, and i couldn’t imagine how my life felt full before he took his first breath, and made me a mommy.  i had always heard people talk about how the relationship between a boy and his mother is something very special, but i couldn’t have imagined being loving and being loved like this.

a few pictures i took of eli a couple of weekends ago.  i can’t put into words how much i love this little man…

my eli.

last thursday after school, we followed our friends out to their peach orchard.  the kids had so much fun running and getting dirty!  i get to take pictures here a couple of times next week, so i was able to kinda play around and practice.    thanks estelle….i’m looking forward to friday, and we’ll take lots more!!

here’s a little peak of a session i had last weekend with this little one.   a sweet family, a beautiful day, and a gorgeous home.  i hope you enjoy…