OK. Last batch from the canyon! Thanks for bearing with me:)

I’m pretttty sure Lily had a blast! She sang and babbled and pointed the whole time she was in her stroller. Thomas would jog up and down the hills so she could go really fast and make race car noises with her! The moon was already up while we were there [The moon rises around 2 or 3 every afternoon here. Lily finds it every time we're out. She even remembers where it is at when we're at certain stores. Like, it's always right behind or above Target or to the left of the PX. She'll look in the same spot and find it right away each time:)] so she had a ball finding the moon and pointing it out to us every 5 minutes for the whole trip!
At one point she got pretty quiet. I found a neat spot on a hill that I wanted to try and get a family picture on so I wanted to stop and take her out. Well, she was almost asleep and wasn’t very thrilled at the idea of being in front of the camera! She was making the strangest face at me… and then I realized it was because she was TRYING to not smile! I couldn’t believe it! I am so blown away by how smart and grown up she is getting! So here are two of those faces!

Now, these are the ones from the hill. I didn’t bring my tripod because I couldn’t find my little adapter thingie that attaches the camera to the tripod. And the part of the path we were on was making a self-timer picture a little difficult… shear cliff going straight up on one side and shear cliff going straight down on the other. So there was no where for me to prop the camera. It finally dawned on me that I could use the hill: put the camera on the ground at the top of the hill and aim the camera down the hill towards us! I found the perfect rock to prop under the lens and was pretty happy with myself! Well, that was all easier to think up than to actually achieve! I had to smush my face into the sand to see through the view finder since I couldn’t FOR THE LIFE OF ME remember how to get the view to show up on my screen lol! And then I did a million test shots to make sure Thomas and Lily were in the right spot. Then went to join them and realized that we were too far from the camera to use my wireless remote! So I had to pull the whole push-the-shutter-and-run game:p All in all it was worth it! The funniest part was that a few seconds after I got one I liked a couple walked around the bend of the trail and offered to take out picture for us! They were extremely nice. He had a Nikon around his neck and she said they were graphic designers. If I would have been more outgoing I would have given them my email address or something. I would love to have some creative friends out here! But I’m terribly shy anddd all too aware of the sweat and sand along the left half of my head and body:/ Anywho… I look fat and gross in the picture they too for us and it’s a little out of focus, so I just went ahead and used the one I got. Here’s a sweet test shot I got of Lily and Thomas and all 3 of us together:)

Once Lily was out of the stroller and got to run around a little she was more than happy to sit on the big girl rock and have pictures taken of herself!

She was so proud of herself and just clapped and clapped:)

But, she did NOT want mommy on the rock with her. She was a big girl and didn’t need me. So she just pretended I wasn’t there and refused to look at the camera lol

Like I said in my last post, we spent a day in Sabino Canyon a few weeks ago. It is a beautiful place. Really makes you appreciate that there can be beauty in the desert.

I grew up in North Carolina. Never really left the east coast except for a few trips to visit family in Texas and California. I am used to being surrounded by lust vegetation. To not being able to see anything past 5 yards off of the road except trees or bushes. So when I moved out here I was expecting sand and rocks with the occasional cactus. I couldn’t have been more wrong! The ground is covered here. There are so many different kinds of plants. Plants that look so alien to me but are beautiful in their own right. I was so happy when we walked into the canyon and I saw how dense the plants were off the trails:) I really need to take my macro lens out of my bag and take it for a walk one of these days!

Notice anything extra in the top picture!?

This beautiful guy was maybe 25 feet from the path we were walking on. I stopped to see what a family was so intently taking pictures of and lo and behold it was a deer! They were standing like 5 feet from him just snapping away while he munched on a bush!! So once they left I told Thomas to stay with Lily and I hiked my happy tail right up there where he was! I couldn’t believe how calm he was. I got within 3 feet of him while I was shooting and he stopped eating and looked right at me. That’s when I backed off a little. All I could do was think of all the animal shows I’ve seen when the cute little deer attacks the idiot that got too close to him. Flashes of this deer on his hind legs just battering me with his hooves started running through my mind. All along thinking to myself “Well, you kind of deserve it! What kind of idiot just walks up to a wild deer!?” lol. So I took a few more pictures and made my way back to Thomas, kicking a cactus on my way out. OW! I had to sit down and take off my show to pull out the needle that went through my tennis shoe and sock. No big deal. Started walking down the trail and a few minutes later felt like something was irritatingthe skin under my jeans. Like the back of my thighs. So I stopped and ran my hands down my legs and sure enough my jeans were riddled with tiny needles! They were JUST like my dog, Rocco’s fur. Pulled those out, walked a little further, started feeling them on my butt and hips. I was pulling needles out from extremely inappropriate places for the rest of the hike and well into the next day! I found them allll over the place! I have NO idea how I got covered in them. Thomas and Lily didn’t have a single needle between them! Somehow, walking off the trail to see the deer… I guess I had to pay admissions;)

And this is just another scenic one I took.

Thomas and I couldn’t agree. He likes it better in color and I love it in black and white. So I’m sharing both:)

A few weekends ago I coaxed my husband into going hiking with me! I found Sabino Canyon in a google search and the description sounded perfect for a day with my family out of doors!
It was lots of fun and lots of work! I had a good time taking pictures before my batteries ran out and then I had an even better time enjoying the afternoon with my loves!
Lily had a great time. Once she was out of her stroller!
Here are some shots of her:

Wanting off of Daddy’s shoulders

On the loose!

Wild and free!

and… off she goes;)

More to come! My eyes are killing me, so I’m taking a break!

Merry Christmas Eve<3

I’ve been slacking on not only posting pictures, but taking them as well. I have some of Lily that I’m going to work on and a few boudoir previews that I’m going to share. Then there will be Christmas pictures to come as well. So just sit tight and check back in a few days and there should be a few new posts for you to look through:)
I hope you all have been well and that this holiday season is treating you well.
Here’s a picture from Sabino Canyon to hold you over;)

1.  Only 54 more hours until Lily and I are sitting on a plane heading for North Carolina<3. 

2.  I am growing increasingly nervous about the flight.  I think I’m having mini internal panic attacks during the day thinking about the plane crashing and me having to save her all by myself.  But these aren’t new.  I get them going over long bridges too… imagining having to save her under water.  It’s so scary being a mom sometimes.

3.  But I know that things will be fine.  It’s only 6 hours of our lives.  Of everyone on the plane’s lives.  It will all be ok.  Even if she is THAT child and screams relentlessly the whole time.  I can deal with it.  And everyone else will have to as well.  I’ll just have to remind them that it’s only 6 hours of their lives and when they are over they will never have to see us again lol.

4.  I have a massive amount of laundry to do before I leave.  It’s amazing that all of my bad habits followed me to Arizona.  I was almost certain that they were purely Carolina bad habits.  I guess they are skilled adaptors or something!

5.  We have managed to lose a whole box of Christmas decorations.  And not just any decorations.  Our Christmas tree ornaments.  All of the special little ones that we have collected over the last few years are gone.  I am praying that they are misplaced in a box that we haven’t unpacked yet. 

6.  Speaking of years… Thomas and I just celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary on the 3rd.  Thomas was out of town but we spoke on the phone for a little while that night.  It’s been a rough year for us.  Our roughest out of the eight we’ve been together.  But things are looking up<3.

7.  I am a DAMN LUCKY WOMAN to have him at my side.  He has this amazing ability to love me in spite of the person I am right now and love me for the woman he knows I will be.  He is able to see my struggles and still hold me through all of them and never let me go.  He sees something in me that I don’t.  That I can’t.  He supports me and encourages me to look to the future and promises to hold my hand and take things one step at a time until that future becomes my present.  He has [and will only continue to] love me in a way that I have never experienced and in a way I am quite certain that I do not deserve.  But he’s still here.  With a confirming kiss every night before bed.

8.  And speaking of the future…

9.  I’m getting that itch.  That Baby-in-my-belly kind of itch.  I thought I wanted to wait until next year.  Maybe I still do.  But… Baby fever has settled inside of me.  God help me.

10.  I’m Verrrrrrrrrry excited to get the business up and running in February.  It looks like we will be in Jacksonville for my birthday [the 5th] and to visit with everyone all together.  So the “launch” might be pushed to the second week of the month.  But it is still very much on track!   I will be getting a few things in order at the end of the month and make an announcement and start booking sessions in January!  I can not wait!  Fingers crossed;)

We took a quick trip to the local zoo here in Tucson. It was such a great experience:)
This is a much smaller zoo than the one in North Carolina that we grew up going to. But I think we benefit from that. We got to get so much closer to the animals and the habitats were more open. The weather is great here as well. Most of the animals were out in the open even though it was the middle of the day. That would have been impossible in the NC humidity.
We took Lily to the NC zoo a few months ago and it’s amazing to see how much she has changed in those short months. She ran around and pointed and really observed the animals this time. It was a lot of fun!
I read somewhere that they are going to have the zoo open at night during the holiday season to display Christmas lights! I’m going to have to check out the details on that though and see if Thomas would be up for it. Any zoo at night, for any reason sounds amazing to me!
Here are a few pictures from the day. I took a ton but these were the only two I liked tonight! Enjoy;)

I baked Thomas a cake, out of boredom last week. Nothing special, just a yellow cake from a box. But it was something for Lily and myself to do to kill a little bit of time on one of our boring weekdays stuck at home;).
Lily helped mommy stir the batter. I had just added water at this point and let her mess around in it. She LOVED it!

Lily and Daddy frosted it together later that night.
She did pretty well at first. And then she started stabbing the cake and digging out the center of it lol. So Daddy finished it up after she had had her fill of frosting and she got a bath:)

Took Lily to the little park that’s around the corner from our house. This was a week ago, I believe.
Grabbed the trusty point and shoot and laid in the grass while Thomas chased her around:) It was a nice afternoon together! Lily is still not a fan of the grass lol. I couldn’t get enough of it though:)

You can kind of see the mountains behind them. You can see them much better in person. It’s gorgeous here:)

These were from later that night, after her bath.
She has started smiling for the camera [:)] but it’s these weird, fake smiles!
I loved them though!

1.  Today has been rough.  I’m running on three hours of sleep and I’ve been throwing up.  [I'm not pregnant.]

2.  Lily’s rash is rearing its ugly head again.  We did the medicine for the full 10 days and ran out and the rash never cleared up.  I’m taking her in to the clinic tomorrow.  This is just ridiculous:/

3.  Thomas left today.  He has to be a witness in a trial back at Pope.  We dropped him off at 6:00 this morning.  He’s going to be gone until Friday.  This is the first time I have ever been out of North Carolina with out anyone!  I think it’s pretty funny that I’m a mother of an entirely other human being and I still feel like such a child sometimes:p

4.  I have driven the most I’ve driven in over a month today:)  Drove home from the airport and to and from Wal Mart to buy groceries!  I missed driving!  I’m excited that I get to do it all week!  How lame am I!?!?

5.  Mya is missing Thomas like crazy:/  She is searching all of the rooms for him.  She either lays in front of the door or right under my feet.  And, of course Rocco decided that he needed attention tonight as well, so he curls up under there with her.  Oh the joy:p

6.  I met another neighbor tonight!  I guess her Yorkie likes to escape and run into our backyard.  So she came over to claim her!  We’re going to have to figure out a way to black the fence so she can’t get in anymore.  I am having terrible thoughts of Rocco tearing that cute puppy to pieces one day. 

7.  Our Thanksgiving went pretty well.  We slept most of the day away:)  I cooked a turkey breast, mashed potatoes, corn and green beans.  Oh and Deviled eggs.  Lily loved the sparking white grape juice.  She had it dribbling all down the front of her… her skin got a little irritated by it though.  It was strange.  All in all, I would write it off as a success.  Not a terribly exciting success.  But success nonetheless;)

8.  Jacksonville in 10 days:):)  I am BEYOND thrilled:D

9.  Lily likes to play in the toilet!  I mean REALLLY likes to play in the toilet.  Any time she can escape us she heads straight for our bathroom.  It’s disturbing.

10.  I don’t know what else to write.  It’s 3 til midnight.  So I guess I’ll just pat myself on the back for actually posting a ToT on a TUESDAY and get myself in bed!  Love you all… thanks for the support;)

I took these a few weeks ago. I’m catching up:)
Lily loves to play in the dog’s beds. She drags her snack and her blanket into them and watches tv sometimes. It’s not unusual for her to climb in with a dog either. Rocco usually runs but Mya is stubborn and stands her ground! Lily doesn’t get it! She just hugs and loves on her. I think Mya secretly enjoys it and just doesn’t want anyone to catch on;)