To My Birthday Boy!

On this day, 2 yrs ago…our second son, Zachary John was born.  Of course the little bugger didn’t want to arrive on time, so I was induced but boy, it was great because it was only 1 hr and 39 min of labor so I can’t complain. LOL

I can’t believe how much time has flown!  I remember how excited JJ was to be a big brother.  How we went to the hospital to “get” a baby. LOL  He was the proudest big brother I have ever seen.  He still is…unless Zack steals a toy he wants…haha.  Zachary is so big now.  He says quite a few words, but of course he’s got his momma’s stubborness and only says them when he wants too because if you ask him too, sometimes he’ll get that gleam in his eye and just laugh at you.

If you ask him what color things are he’ll just laugh and just say ‘blue’ to everything.  He’s obsessed with doggies, but loves animals of every kind.  He would spend all day outdoors riding his favorite scoot & ride radio flyer bike and search for bugs and dig in the dirt.  If he sees a puddle from the rain, he’ll splash, sit and lay in it.  By the time he’s done, no longer will there be a puddle. LOL

He loves to tell you what sounds animals say.  And I bribe him to do it just to see the faces he makes to say them because it makes us laugh.  I love asking him to ‘show me those lips’ because he puckers his lips like fishy lips to give you a kiss and gives you eskimo kisses which puts him into fits of giggles, which is contagious!  He looks up to his big brother, JJ and wants to do everything he does and I just love watching everything they do together. 

It’s so funny because you tell Zachary it’s his birthday today and he throws his arms in the air and in a high pitched voice and says “yay!”. LOL

So, my love….looking back on how much you’ve grown on the past 2 yrs has made me realize that it’s all the little things in life that really count each and every day.  Sometimes in our daily lives we get so busy that we truly forget that.  Thank you for bringing so much joy and love to our family!  We love you very much!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Zachary!

A few days old:

Today, his 2nd birthday:

Haaaaaay! What are you doing?? lol

I thought it would be fun to just go out and buy a big bale of hay for my boys and throw it in the backyard and just let them jump and play in it (and of course, sneak in some pics).  Thought I could bribe them into taking one pic of them BOTH smiling at the camera, but nope. LOL  Oh well….it was worth a shot.  I’ll add some more photos in a couple of days as they are still playing in it.  But here are a few of them.  They love to set up the toddler slide and jump off the top into the pile.  They are too funny….

Erin & Mike’s Trash the Dress Session…

What can I say about Erin & Mike?  They truly are a wonderful couple.  Fun, carefree, patient (wink wink, lol), and were just up for anything and Mike…you were a great sport for taking on that wave for Erin! =)  We drove around for a few hours finding a few different spots all around South County for this TTD session and I am so glad we didn’t give up on our search for the Ruins.  I think I found a new favorite secluded spot for portraits and I think Erin looks amazing in these!  Here are a just a few of my faves from their session:

Lynn & Martin

Lynn & Martin were married on September 6th.  They are a wonderful couple…very laid back, easy going and heck…even the remnants of a hurricane didn’t damper their spirits!  Lynn & Martin were married at the Chapel by the Sea in Warwick and the reception was at Quidnessett Country Club.  They have a beautiful family and twin boys who I got such a kick out of.  Here are a few of my faves from their special day:

And for the guests, family and friends of Lynn & Martin…I’m sure you’re hoping to see a fun photo.  As most of you know, Dylan Walsh (from Nip Tuck) and his beautiful wife, Joanna Going (Another World, Runaway Jury, etc) was there.  They both were so sweet and were fabulous dancers!  I have such a cute photo of Dylan Walsh dancing with a bunch of kids (not theirs. lol) but for the privacy of the children, I will not post it.  Someone once asked me if I could photograph anything in the world, what would it be and I said a celebrity wedding.  So in reality, I think this would be the closest I’ll probably get. HAHA =)  As a photographer, I have to personally say that it was a pleasure not only to photograph Lynn & Martin’s wedding, but them as well.

Off To The Pumpkin Patch…

We went to the Pumpkin Patch yesterday with my parents.  The last couple of years, we went with Peter’s parents so it was nice to bring along my parents this time.  The kids got such a kick outta it.  Zack didn’t want to leave the patch at all.  He was hoping all around it and was picking up all the little pumpkins his hands could carry.  And of course, JJ was picking out the biggest pumpkins out of the patch and wanted to take those home. LOL  Here are a few from our day:

Tried a texture on this photo:

And just to throw in a recent photo of our dog, Kyra:

Amanda & Brad

Amanda & Brad were married on Oct 12th.  They were another great couple to work with, very laid back.  Their ceremony & reception took place at the beautiful Belle Mer in Newport RI, but beforehand, we took some portraits at the Norman Bird Sanctuary in Middletown RI.  Here are a few of my faves from their wedding day:

Grandchildren…A Fall Portrait.

So I took the photos of all my nephews and niece the other day at my parents house.  It’s tradition for my parents to have all their grandkids on their christmas card and this year, they asked me to take the photo in the backyard so the lake would be in the pic.  7 kids, ages 10 and under.  HAHA, I knew it would be interesting.  But hey, the sky was dreary and at least it didn’t rain…..Here goes, these are the best ones:

The oldest (Nate, in the white stripes) hates being in front of the camera, but knows he has to anyways and didn’t put up a fight.  His brother, Nicolas..(shaved head, in the brown stripes) 2nd to oldest is just a ham.  Their little brother, Ian (is between them, in the white shirt with the yellow stripe) is just mad at the world and wants a blue lollipop.  Brandon (the other boy in the brown stripe shirt) is another ham and is trying to hold his sister from getting off of the canoe because she doesn’t want anything to do with this.  My boys, Justin (the older boy in the red & blue striped shirt)….which I cannot believe is LOOKING TOWARDS the camera because I couldn’t bribe this boy to save my life, as I am threatening him that he isn’t playing with the new puppy that Auntie Sara just bought to Papa’s house if he doesn’t look at me and isn’t getting a lollipop either. LOL  And my youngest, Zachary is just looking at the chaos and thinking, OMG what the heck have I gotten myself into????? 

Seriously….those of you who are photographers and have children KNOW that you can rarely get your own children to smile for portraits.  I should hire another pro to do this. HAHA.  But that’s ok.  They are kids and everything doesn’t have to be perfect.  In the end, they all got a lollipop and they were happy as can be…