This family is just a hoot and if you know them you know they have the greatest sense of humor which obviously shows in all the fun ways we thought of to announce that they have a little one on the way!!
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Amanda's Baby Announcements!!!
So these pictures were also taken forever ago!! But hey it is kinda nice since I took these only like a week after I took their family pictures haha so spreading it out a little, and next will be gender announcements and I CAN'T wait!!!
This family is just a hoot and if you know them you know they have the greatest sense of humor which obviously shows in all the fun ways we thought of to announce that they have a little one on the way!!
This family is just a hoot and if you know them you know they have the greatest sense of humor which obviously shows in all the fun ways we thought of to announce that they have a little one on the way!!
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Motzer's Spring Family Photos!
If you have been around my blog for long you will certainly remember this beautiful families faces!! The Motzer's have been some of the most awesome return clients I have ever had!! And I hope to see them in front of my camera again pretty soon :D
I could not get over how adorable they all looked in their matching jerseys, Red Wings Fans to the core!!
Monday, June 2, 2014
6 months into 2014
Hey EVERYONE!!!! Did you miss me? I know my last blog was over a month ago, and you probably thought we died mid-flight, but rest assured we made it both to USA and back to Germany safe and sound, and Kyra was a champ both ways and LOVE LOVE LOVED her goody bags!! Well I hope you guys are glad to see me back on here because boy oh boy does taking a month off leave you a ways behind I seriously have like 9 blogs to write and post for you guys! One of course to include lots of awesome pictures from our annual trip home!! But first, can you believe it is already JUNE? I know its incredibly difficult to believe, that half the year is over and we survived!! Okay almost half the year I realize I normally write this at the end of June but thought now was as good of time as any for an update, and specifically since a lot has been accomplished since March!!
Read 12 books: Well I have officially finished reading 7 books and have 2 more waiting to be read!! I love reading and am glad I made this goal so I don't put my books on the back burner!! I think a book a month was a wonderful goal!! Keep an eye out soon a new book review will be on its way to you!!
Blog twice a week: Well with vacation and frankly our life being busy as ever, this one slipped as it generally does a couple times a year!! I don't know where I am on the goal of 104 blogs this year, but I am sure as I love to write to you guys and I have a fun series in mind coming up that I will still reach this goal before the year is over!!
Life as a 2 year old: So on my last check in I changed my goal to a photo a day of Kyra while she was two and OBVIOUSLY I didn't stick to that one either. But I do take tons of photos almost every day and feel like I document her life amazingly!! So I shouldn't try to force creativity!! Next year I am gonna go back to a 52 week challenge!! It turns out I liked having the themes to work from each week!
Read and finish the respect dare This resolution thus far is
still just sitting on the back burner I intend to do it but haven't had
the chance to get around to it yet.
Run 2 5ks: So I ran 2 miles non-stop that was a major accomplishment than I ran 1 mile while I was in Colorado and couldn't breathe for a week from the cold air and altitude. And since than have NOT been doing great in this aspect...But, I am back at the gym who knows where that shall lead!!
Get out of debt: All I can say is mission accomplished!! This was the first goal of the year that we got done!! Now all of our income only goes to bills and savings!! And well of course a little spending ;D but knowing we are in the positive when our paycheck comes in is very comforting :D
Get organized and declutter: I have made a pretty awesome dent in this, but only in my kitchen I have managed to get rid of some stuff and also keep it organized and clean....may not sound like much but one whole room pretty much permanently decluttered is GREAT!!
Maintain my 4.0 gpa Well I am taking the summer off from school due to a busy summer full of plans so I don't have anything to go towards this right now, however I ended up doing great in Photography and so far this year I still have a 4.0 :D Can't wait to start another class, that is after I get back into a routine as far as housework, gym, work, and Kyra, aka....Fall time LOL!
Do 24 photo-shoots: Well this goal is the second one I have accomplished!! 24 shoots before June!! That is awesome and I have all my amazing friends and family to thank!! Everyone has been so supportive and I am so very excited to keep working with my wonderful clients!! And to make a ton more when I move to Colorado!!
Go on 3 trips: Another goal that is DONE!! We have been doing lots of traveling this year including the trip home!! Also have a huge trip coming up in a couple weeks that I am overly excited about!! Prague!! There will be lots of pictures don't you worry!! My travelers heart is so fulfilled here in Europe!!
Reach 145 Meh, this goal I think is gonna get the boot, I am tired of hating myself for not dropping pounds like I want to, and vacation was awful to me. So that goal is far out of reach!! And I am finally okay with that, just as long as I can look at myself and be happy with what I see.
Get pregnant This is still in the works....
So yeah a lot of my goals have been reached a couple are gone, but that is okay!! I had a lot on the list to start the year out and it feels good knowing most will be reached by the end of the year and that is enough for me!!
Friday, May 2, 2014
Traveling with a Toddler
So I am sitting here procrastinating the last few details of being packed up to leave for the States...uh just kidding really it is me having not packed at all, but I have the lists all made just gotta put everything in the bag!!
As you know we have lived over seas (Hawaii, and Germany) almost 5 years. So we have been traveling more than most people ever do. And not just simple hops from state to state, but hour upon hour flights...(10 hours to east coast, than 3 hours to Denver). This was never really an issue for us when we were living in Hawaii because given (only 7 hours flight from there) to sleep and watch movies, not a huge deal when your traveling as an adult...Than we moved to Germany and had Kyra and boy did traveling become a whole new story.
Anyone who has a toddler knows even a simple 15 min trip to the grocery store can be a handful sometimes. Now imagine confining that same kid to 1 chair for 10 hours straight...It totally makes a long day!! Traveling backwards in time is nice because you do manage to not have to deal with as much jet lag, but it does end up making you spend an entire 24 hours with out sleep which is UTTERLY EXHAUSTING...And more so the older we get!
So the trick to traveling with a toddler is DISTRACTIONS. The first time we traveled with her she was only 6 months old. Strangely moms seem to be most worried about traveling with kids that age, but it was sooooo easy. We totally over packed and she was easily entertained by mom and dad and nursing and sleeping. It was just so simple. Than last year I had to make the long flight all by myself, JOYS of military life. And I know so many moms here who have done it with their toddlers and I give them Kudos, because that is not an easy task.
When we know we have a long flight coming up we plan ahead...WAY AHEAD. The best possible thing to do for trips is to get new, small, and interesting items to bring a long. We get like 7 or 8 different little things to entertain her, and make sure she never sees them before we leave so that it will last longer on the plane. The goal is to see how long you can make each little item last and don't let them see any of the other items until they are completely done with the first.
This year we have:
1. (busybag idea) Pipe cleaners and cotton balls This works well as its new textures, shapes, and you can bend them and shape them and be creative in just so many ways with them.
2. (busybag idea) Buttons So we bought some little multicolored buttons, these for Kyra are great because we can count, we can move from one cup to another, we can sort by colors etc. And I also grabbed a handful of buttons from Dustin's Grandma's Button box. And they are all kinds of shapes and colors which will give her even more things to sort and organize.
3. Stickers So stickers at 2 years old are just super fun. We got a couple different kinds, and my mom sent us this really cool reusable fish bowl sticker thing where you can decorate the fish bowl and put different fish in it. And it is a clean thing to play with that cost like 1 dollar a pack just really fun go to activity.
4. Magnetic Paper Dolls So this toy we had let her play with at home since it was a birthday present but at the house they tend to just get spread around the house, so it is going to be interesting if she will actually play with it more when she doesn't have the option to leave it all over the place.
5. My little ponies Always a hit for little girls, most kids love animals of any sort, and just a great small item that lets them use their imagination and enjoy it.
6-8. Coloring items, books, movies For us we get little mini sized of these items, we got her a toddler bag she is gonna carry and it has all her fun stuff in it. And small just works well and fits easily on the fold down desk top thing. Luckily with International (most the time) they have personal tv's at each seat and its free since you are sitting there FOREVER!!
So obviously these things will help cut off (if your are lucky an hour each) some time. But inevitable your toddler is going to get restless and toys just wont cut it. This is when we bring new fun tasty snacks a long, snacks always keep kids happier longer!! We grab things we can poor into sandwich baggies and give her serving size amounts and than store the big bags of in our roller carry on up above with like extra clothes, and diapers (you are gonna wanna bring TONS altitude and different food, and nerves and a whole list of things can really mess with your kids tummies and you don't wanna make them sit in icky clothes)
And now that Kyra walks ( has been for over a year now, wow that is so hard to believe) she is clearly not going to be okay not doing that for 10 hours straight. So unless she is asleep, completely in a trance watching a show or eating a meal every hour at least and anytime we need to go to the bathroom we let her walk to the bathroom with us! As long as she isn't screaming, or touching everyone as she goes people tend to oooh and ahhh over a cute little kid walking around on a plane! And of course before loading the plane and on lay overs avoid carrying/strollers as much as possible, it is truly better to let them walk off the energy!!
So there really is no magic trick to making traveling easier people say give them benadryl it will make them sleepy etc. But for us really just going with the flow (enjoy a couple glasses of wine or coffee) makes the whole transition go smoothest for us. We don't want her to sleep the whole flight even if that would be easier because when we arrive at our hotel she is gonna be wide awake when all we wanna do is sleep!! NOT A FUN GAME TO PLAY!!
As you know we have lived over seas (Hawaii, and Germany) almost 5 years. So we have been traveling more than most people ever do. And not just simple hops from state to state, but hour upon hour flights...(10 hours to east coast, than 3 hours to Denver). This was never really an issue for us when we were living in Hawaii because given (only 7 hours flight from there) to sleep and watch movies, not a huge deal when your traveling as an adult...Than we moved to Germany and had Kyra and boy did traveling become a whole new story.
Anyone who has a toddler knows even a simple 15 min trip to the grocery store can be a handful sometimes. Now imagine confining that same kid to 1 chair for 10 hours straight...It totally makes a long day!! Traveling backwards in time is nice because you do manage to not have to deal with as much jet lag, but it does end up making you spend an entire 24 hours with out sleep which is UTTERLY EXHAUSTING...And more so the older we get!
So the trick to traveling with a toddler is DISTRACTIONS. The first time we traveled with her she was only 6 months old. Strangely moms seem to be most worried about traveling with kids that age, but it was sooooo easy. We totally over packed and she was easily entertained by mom and dad and nursing and sleeping. It was just so simple. Than last year I had to make the long flight all by myself, JOYS of military life. And I know so many moms here who have done it with their toddlers and I give them Kudos, because that is not an easy task.
When we know we have a long flight coming up we plan ahead...WAY AHEAD. The best possible thing to do for trips is to get new, small, and interesting items to bring a long. We get like 7 or 8 different little things to entertain her, and make sure she never sees them before we leave so that it will last longer on the plane. The goal is to see how long you can make each little item last and don't let them see any of the other items until they are completely done with the first.
This year we have:
1. (busybag idea) Pipe cleaners and cotton balls This works well as its new textures, shapes, and you can bend them and shape them and be creative in just so many ways with them.
2. (busybag idea) Buttons So we bought some little multicolored buttons, these for Kyra are great because we can count, we can move from one cup to another, we can sort by colors etc. And I also grabbed a handful of buttons from Dustin's Grandma's Button box. And they are all kinds of shapes and colors which will give her even more things to sort and organize.
3. Stickers So stickers at 2 years old are just super fun. We got a couple different kinds, and my mom sent us this really cool reusable fish bowl sticker thing where you can decorate the fish bowl and put different fish in it. And it is a clean thing to play with that cost like 1 dollar a pack just really fun go to activity.
4. Magnetic Paper Dolls So this toy we had let her play with at home since it was a birthday present but at the house they tend to just get spread around the house, so it is going to be interesting if she will actually play with it more when she doesn't have the option to leave it all over the place.
5. My little ponies Always a hit for little girls, most kids love animals of any sort, and just a great small item that lets them use their imagination and enjoy it.
6-8. Coloring items, books, movies For us we get little mini sized of these items, we got her a toddler bag she is gonna carry and it has all her fun stuff in it. And small just works well and fits easily on the fold down desk top thing. Luckily with International (most the time) they have personal tv's at each seat and its free since you are sitting there FOREVER!!
So obviously these things will help cut off (if your are lucky an hour each) some time. But inevitable your toddler is going to get restless and toys just wont cut it. This is when we bring new fun tasty snacks a long, snacks always keep kids happier longer!! We grab things we can poor into sandwich baggies and give her serving size amounts and than store the big bags of in our roller carry on up above with like extra clothes, and diapers (you are gonna wanna bring TONS altitude and different food, and nerves and a whole list of things can really mess with your kids tummies and you don't wanna make them sit in icky clothes)
And now that Kyra walks ( has been for over a year now, wow that is so hard to believe) she is clearly not going to be okay not doing that for 10 hours straight. So unless she is asleep, completely in a trance watching a show or eating a meal every hour at least and anytime we need to go to the bathroom we let her walk to the bathroom with us! As long as she isn't screaming, or touching everyone as she goes people tend to oooh and ahhh over a cute little kid walking around on a plane! And of course before loading the plane and on lay overs avoid carrying/strollers as much as possible, it is truly better to let them walk off the energy!!
So there really is no magic trick to making traveling easier people say give them benadryl it will make them sleepy etc. But for us really just going with the flow (enjoy a couple glasses of wine or coffee) makes the whole transition go smoothest for us. We don't want her to sleep the whole flight even if that would be easier because when we arrive at our hotel she is gonna be wide awake when all we wanna do is sleep!! NOT A FUN GAME TO PLAY!!
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Kayden is 2 years old!
The last time this little guy was in front of my camera he was a lot more shy and about 6 months younger when he was with his family getting fall pictures done!! This time him and I got a chance to hang out and play together just the two of us!! And he came out of his shell and gave me some of the best smiles!! I had so much fun hanging out with him and his mom!!
Easter 2014
We had a 3 part Easter this year! We started out with the Easter Festival on post with a little (terribly organized and terribly ran) egg hunt! Where Kyra got 2 whole eggs! But we had fun playing with beach balls while we waited!! And got to enjoy a nice little lunch with our dear friends the Cordells!
Than we dyed eggs as a family!! Kyra really enjoyed it this year! It was so much fun, and she loved waking up to find her Easter Basket!!
And than we ended our Easter with a couple families we had a brunch and egg hunt with our girls!!
Than we dyed eggs as a family!! Kyra really enjoyed it this year! It was so much fun, and she loved waking up to find her Easter Basket!!
And than we ended our Easter with a couple families we had a brunch and egg hunt with our girls!!
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