Keeping Christ in Christmas

My kids are getting older and see all the toy commercials but I am proud of them because they still seem to get that Christmas is about celebrating Christ birth. I feel so privaledged to have these 4 wonderful gifts in my life.
Remember to keep Christ in Christmas.

Hello Santa

We braved the long lines on Sunday and the kids got to sit on Santas lap and tell him what they wanted. In true form our youngest is pictured crying in Santas lap. It's tradition!

Building is fun but Eating is sweeter

James bought materials for the girls to make a gingerbread house. So Caity spent the night on Friday night and the girls got to put the house together and decorate it too. They all had a blast.

Icy Fun

Every year the PTA at Hyman Elementary get each student a gift for Christmas. This year the board decided to ake it a gift for the whole family and rented out the ice rink at the Starplex ice rink in Duncanville. Last Friday, Hundreds of families came together for some ice skating. I got Gabi and Krisalyn out on the ice for a total of 30 seconds. I think that picture is on Shaunnas camera. Breaunna had tried ice skating almost 3 years ago and lasted about s long as Gabi and Kris did but she had a blast this time.

Tis the season

Tis the season to be busy, fa la la la la la la la la

It is unbelievable to me that Christmas is so close. Then right after that a new year. Which will mean my sweet Elijah will be turning 1. I am not ready for him to be 1 yet. All the kids are doing well. Breaunna and Gabriella are ready for school to be out for winter break. I think I'd rather them stay in school. It's so hard to keep the house picked up when they are all there. Anyone want to hire a maid for me I'll accept!!! ;)

Lot's of new photo sessions lately and a few more scheduled before Christmas. Check them out.

Need a Laugh? You've come to the right place!

These will expire early January so get your laughs on now!
The kids are still cracking up.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

and one with my 3 girls and Caitlyn cause she's spending the night

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

and one last one with Mom, Dad, me, Shaunna, & Grandma Cash

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

hope you all still love me :)

Elijah is 10 months old

I am a little behind in posting some things. Elijah turned 10 months on November
25th. He is 23 pounds and 30 1/4 inches tall. He is cruising now and can find a way to get to whatever he wants in a room. He lights up when someone he knows enters a room. At church he can't take his eyes off his grandad.
For Elijah's 10 month I decided to just take a few fun shots instead of a regular photo shoot. I am in love with these. Hope you all enjoy too.

The Engagement of Sarah & Kelly

I am disapointed in the quality of the slideshow to view on youtube. The DVD had a great quality. If I figure out the problem I will re-upload and repost. But this is as good as it gets right now. For family members wanting to order, Sarah has my price list available and you can get her the sizes along with the number in the corner of each slide.

Thanks,
Laurie Melissa Photography

I'm very pleased

Some of you follow my Doula blog, some of you don't. But I am pleased to show off my newest project. The Birth slideshow of a recent client. Just follow the link below to my Doula Blog.
www.DFWareaDoula.blogspot.com

silent

I've been silent here for over a week. Not because we havn't been busy. I have had several photography sessions and even a birth to attend. Here is a quick review.
Engagement Session of Sarah McSpadden & Kelly Campbell




Family Session for the Petersens




The Birth of Dylan




Bridal Session ~ Amy Young






All Sessions are copyright Laurie Melissa Photography
Do Not Copy or Reproduce

Ruba dub dub

Fun in the tub. Elijah was born in the water 9 months ago and has been happy in the water ever since. He has found how fun splashing can be.
Ejoy

Artist

My little artist Breaunna Faith drew a picture of our family. Too sweet.

New Doula Brochure

I am Super excited to have Elijah so big that I can get back to my passion of being a Birth Doula. Clients are comming on slowly right now but I hope to get my name out there and hopefully have 2-3 clients per month. I have a website up, but still a work in progress and now have some business cards and brochures on the way. You can view them at www.DFWareaDoula.blogspot.com
If you know a pregnant woman pass along my name. No matter the type of birth she is choosing, she can use some extra support and infomation, which I can provide.

Breaunna & the Tooth Fairy

Breaunna got her first visit from the tooth fairy on Wednesday night. She got a whole dollar $$$ She is so very excited. She has been wiggling that tooth for over a month now. So I tricked her and popped it right out. She screamed the typical earth shattering "BREAUNNA SCREAM" for a second then smiled when I showed her the tooth. She quickly asked to call her Aunt Shaunna and Grannie to share her big new. Congrats big girl.

Another Month

My sweet little man just made it to 9 months. You would think this momma could be a little less emotional since I've been through this 3 times before but I have tears in my eyes. It's crazy how fast these past months have gone by and to think he's almost ONE! New milestones this month are trying to pull up and standing holding on to something. As always I measured his weight and height at home. He grew an inch this last month but the weight stayed the same. He is 23 pounds and 30 1/2 inches tall.
One of the benifits to being a professional photographer is being able to take all his monthly pictures out of a studio. He has saved me a fortune! Enjoy this short slideshow of his 9 month photo session. To view these images larger please go to my flickr front page. www.flickr.com/photos/lauriemelissaphotography

Copyright Laurie Melissa Photography Please do not copy or reproduce any images. Thank you!

1st Report Card

My little 1st grader Breaunna just recieved her 1st report card of the school year. All her report cards the last 2 years have been based on more of a participation or Exceptional vs. Satisfactory standard but now it's a letter grade. The first few weeks of school had us a little scared but our big girl did very well. She made the A~B honor roll. We are so very proud of her accomplishment and are giving her a huge incentive to continue the hard work and even try for that ~A~ honor roll. Go Breaunna, you always have been our little sponge, able to recall facts without blinking, when you want to ofcorse! We love you and are excited about your hard work.

Another Year has come and gone!

Yes, it's that magical day that comes around once a year and either makes you feel really happy or really sad. Leading up to today I was feeling a little depressed about being a year closer to 30. Uggggg! Today I woke up and got the sweetest phone call from my wonderful nieces and nephews (Caitlyn, Madilyn, Joshua & Noah) Hearing them sing Happy Birthday was so sweet and made me smile. My sweet husband James and our four kids (Breaunna~6,Gabriella~4,Krisalyn~2 & Elija~8months)took me to dinner last night and a movie. BRAVO is a little italian grill in Arlington. My favorite dish was taken off the menu but they cooked it for me. Then we took the kids to see Beverly Hills Chiuaua. It was cute and now I don't have to hear the kids ask for it anymore. It was a fun day and I really couldn't get a better gift than seeing my kids so happy to spend time with me. Today my dad showed up on his motercycle and gave me a card with a car wash cert. and a card from my Grandma Cash. Thank you to everyone who remembered my birthday and made me feel very special today. I love you all!
I am adding to this post to add some pics of a pladough cake that Krisalyn made for me today. So cute.

Our Family Photo Shoot

We have not had a family photo since Krisalyn was 4 months old. She ofcorse in now 2.5 and we have Elijah, now 8 months old. To say it was overdue would be an understatement. A big thanks to Joshua Kile, my nephew for his assistance with my kids and a Thankyou to my big sister Shaunna for taking the photos of the whole family together.
Enjoy!


Veiw photos individually on our family flickr site
http://www.flickr.com/photos/memoriesbylaurie/sets/72157607463090777/

Pasketti

Pasketti , Spaghetti, either way you pronounce it it's yummy yummy yummy. We've been giving Elijah bites of different foods over the last month and tonight he had his mamas spaghetti. Breaunna says I am the world's best cook. Makes me feel good. Ofcorse I've attached a few pics from his dinner. Surprisingly he wasn't messy all over like bis sister Breaunna was when she had her first taste of spaghetti but it was still enough to need a quick dip in the tub.

Jump jump jump

The girls are no stanger to the trampoline in our backyard. It's a normal source of excercise on most afternoons. Yesterday we put Elijah on the trampoline for the first time. I did get a short video at the end of the fun. At first he was smiling and laughing. The girls started getting a little to close and bouncing him high. I couldn't believe he kept his balance the whole time. Have fun watching my little bobble head. He loves his sisters and they soooooooooo love him too.

D is for Donut or Darn good Daddy

James got up with the girls on Wednesday and let them help him make home made donuts. I wish I had finished feeding Eli a little quicker and then I might have had the chance to take a few pics of thier little adventure. They took a can of biscuits and roled them into donuts and small balls of douh then James put them in the deep fryer then they roled them in powdered suger. A yummy morning treat. I did manage to get one picture of what didn't get eaten. Yet another wonderful father daughter moment. He's so good.

One more thought for today

KLTY 94.9 is my station. I just don't listen to anything else. The music is uplifting and music speaks to me in ways nothing else can. All that said, I heard a song today by Big Daddy Weave and wanted to share. The album just came out in July of this year.

Photography Opportunities

So it seems that the magical time of year when Seniors are making preparations to graduate has begun. For me that means, Senior Portraits. First of all, a big Thankyou to my friends Sylvia and Joel for the park suggestion. It is an amazingly simple place but it has so many different photographic backdrops and opportunities. The creative wheels in my brain are definetly in motion. So if YOU, or someone you know is in need of some awesome outdoor portraits, give me a call or shoot me an email. Prices are low and set up so you can customize your order to your needs. Here is a little peak at some photos from the Senior session on Monday.

cookie monster

Thankyou big sister Krisalyn for helping us all to see what a true Cookie Monster looks like. Poor Elijah; being our 4th child has put him somewhat at a disadvantage for mom and dads watchful eye. There are so many needs being met all at once that sometimes things or instances like this one, go unnoticed until it's too late. But to his advantage, big sister has been sneeking him some pretty yummy treats! I was trying to put the kids to bed. Bre and Gabi first since they have school in the morning and when I came back in the room, Krisalyn had given Elijah an Oreo Cookie. He had destroyed the thing, NO TEETH yet mind you! Enjoy this little photo collage! I hope it makes you smile like it did me!

Elijah is 8 months old

I am a few days late posting since EJ was 8 months on the 25th of September, but better late than never right! No new huge milestones but he is talking some. Dadda, Momma, laughing. The usual at his age. Still no crawling, but the girls never did crawl. Just went straight to the walking. He's still 22lbs. and has grown another half inch at 29 1/2 inches. Again shall I say, Future Dallas Cowboy!

Play Ball

Breaunna has been asking her daddy to play some ball with her and even though today was a bit hot outside we packed up all four kids, each of their gloves, some baseballs and a bat and headed down to the park near our house. I think all the kids had a good time. Even Krisalyn took a turn trying to hit the ball with her daddy. But as usual her favorite thing was to swing. You will notice she soared above her daddy's fingertips, all the while laughing and saying higher, higher. Wonderful memories made today.