Amelia

Some parents just amaze me. Actually, most parents do. When Kathleen called me to do pictures of her sweet little girl, Amelia, we went back and forth for a few weeks before we finally found a time to make it work. In fact, I just went through my emails, and when Kathleen first emailed me, Amelia was 6 1/2 months old and when we actually did the pictures I'm pretty sure she was closing in on 8 months old. But we made it work, and I'm so glad we did! And then I found out that Kathleen and her husband are both PA doctors... I am more than impressed they make anything work with their awesome jobs and an 8-month-old little girl. It's moments like that when I feel really dumb for ever complaining that my life is busy... :)

The Allen family met me at a random field and barn I found on the back side of the South Hill, and although it was super sunny and HOT, we had a great time! Amelia was such a good sport and quite honestly might have the biggest, bluest eyes I've ever seen!! SO BEAUTIFUL! Here are a few Flat 4 favorites of Miss Amelia...

Even though they mostly wanted pictures of just Amelia, we managed to get a few with mom and dad too! :)

Thank you Amy Hook for referring Kathleen for pictures! Referrals are such a huge compliment and I so appreciate it. :)

A Rough Patch

We have had a bit of a rough patch in our household lately. For some, more literally than others...

Maggie has definitely had it the worst, as you can see. Her lower back became so sensitive the last few weeks that you could hardly touch it and she started losing fur in one spot. So I took her to the vet, and it turns out Max (our younger dog) bit her while they were playing and her skin got extremely irritated and infected and the infection spread. Two vet bills, a bottle of antibiotics, two shots, a tube of skin cream, some blood work, and a horrible shave job later, things started to get better.

That is, until "the patch" got sunburnt. No biggie, right? I'll just put some sunscreen on it. Brilliant! Apparently having two dogs is much harder than I anticipated -- Max licked all the sunscreen off of Maggie. So the vet suggested another idea, which I was not too thrilled about...

Yep, that's right, my dog is wearing a shirt. It honestly took me 20 minutes to find one that was under $5 in the clearance section at PetSmart that wasn't bedazzled or didn't have the word "Princess" on it somewhere. I'm not quite sure what is worse, the patch or the doggie t-shirt.

To top it all off, Maggie got extremely sick two nights ago. Like on-her-death-bed sick. We took the pups on a walk above Holmberg Park and let them off their leashes because we were out in the woods and no one else was around. We're still not sure if maybe she got into something along the trail, but she started throwing up that night around 10:00PM and threw up every 25 minutes until 7:00AM. Which also meant that I was up all night with her. Literally.

I'm beginning to realize that I am one of those people who just doesn't do well without a decent amount of sleep, especially when I'm already stressed. I am either doomed to get a migraine or I have a meltdown. Yesterday, it was the meltdown. First to my mom, then to the vet over the phone, then when I called into work. Needless to say, it wasn't my best day. And I'm pretty sure our vet clinic has some kind of symbol next to my name in the computer that is code for "psycho."

If I was honest with myself, it hasn't really been a great month. Okay, let me go back a step and say that a lot of AMAZING things have happened this month, but on a personal level, we have all just been completely bogged down and busier than we've ever been. Between working full-time and all of our photography stuff, I literally have not had a day off until today for a full month. And Jordan's schedule with classes and studying for the Bar Exam is worse. On top of all that, I've been sick for two weeks.

What does all of that equate to? Things like me leaving my car door wide open while we grocery shop at Safeway at night. I wish I was kidding. Or looking all over the store for a product at work when it's always in one certain spot, only to find that it was in that spot all along. I guess I forgot to mention in addition to migraines and meltdowns, I apparently get Alzheimer's symptoms when I'm tired and stressed.

My poor husband.

I'm not trying to complain or sound negative, although I'm sure it sounds like it. Actually, I've been counting my blessings more than ever lately because I know there are so many.

Things are starting to look up, which is the good news! I decided not to take any more photography jobs until after the 4th of July weekend, which has been a much needed breather for me. Jordan found out he GOT A JOB! Well, it's a temporary position with S.N.A.P., which is where he did his internship, but it could turn into a permanent position in October. Either way, it's a great thing for us right now! And we have two great weekends coming up -- Hoopfest this weekend and the 4th of July next weekend -- they honestly couldn't have come at a better time for us.

It's a busy season of life for us, but God is good and we are so thankful. Oh, and Maggie (aka "Patches") is doing much better today. :)

Finley Family

I'm pretty sure it's not in the cards for me to have a blonde child. I feel like I've mentioned this before, but at any rate, there's something about little kids with blonde hair that I just find absolutely adorable.

Enter Bo Finley...

I had the chance to do a family photo shoot for the Finley family a couple weeks ago. Two words can pretty much sum it up: blonde & beautiful. And it's a crazy small world because Geneva and her husband Adam both graduated from the same high school as me, Geneva and my husband, Jordan, worked together a few years ago, and Adam is brothers with one of my good friends from high school. It's amazing all the connections you can find over the course of an hour. :)

Anyway, the Finley family was a blast to shoot! Geneva and Adam were so laid back, and Bo, who is 18 months old, was so much fun!! It had rained the day before we met up for their photos, so at the end of the shoot they just let Bo run through this huge puddle we found -- I'm pretty sure he was the envy of every 18-month-old boy at that point. :) Well, without further ado, meet the fabulous Finley family...

Look at those eyes! Pretty sure little Bo is going to be a future heartbreaker. :)

Stay tuned for our first real maternity shoot, plus two more adorable families!

Beth + Chris

Beth Vercic is one of my best customers -- hands down! Remember this post? Well, Beth has been a friend of our family since she played club volleyball with my sister back in high school. She has referred me to co-workers, purchased a few of my travel prints, and now I am shooting her wedding... and they are having the Photo Booth at their reception! FLAT 4 LOVES BETH. :)

And now we love Chris too! Beth and Chris are so real together and just so much fun!! We had a great time with them and it was so fun to see the two of them together. Yes, I said "we" because my new second-shooter, JORDAN TAMPIEN, joined me. :)

It was finally time for Beth and Chris's engagement session and we barely beat the rain a couple Sundays ago. Since they are getting married downtown in August, they thought it'd be fun to do their engagement photos up at Green Bluff to get a variety. I agreed! We were able to scope out some brand new spots, and Beth and Chris were way too easy to photograph. :)

Here are a few Flat 4 faves... we had the hardest time narrowing down our favorites!

Pretty sure these take the cake so far for jumping shots! :)

The next two pictures below were taken by Jordan Tampien -- what a stud, huh?!

Picture below taken by Jordan Tampien.

I am so excited for Beth and Chris's wedding in August!!

Stay tuned for more albums coming soon!