happy friday!

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     just popping in to say that i'm back from my midwest travels and i have a computer again! i've been on a photo editing rampage and plan to be back to blogging next week to catch up and share!

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happy friday everyone!

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bloom.

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 ...  bloom  ...

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"Bloom" is the May writing prompt of The Mommy Blogger Collective. In addition to a monthly writing prompt, the collective hosts a monthly blogger featurette. This month we are featuring Misty of Momista Beginnings. A few words from Misty --- I'm Misty, the southern California blogger behind Momista Beginnings. I began this blog while pregnant with Mia over two years ago to create a space for mamas out there to connect with their inner "momista." According to me, a momista is a devout follower and lover of motherhood who takes her role to the next level. She uses her strengths to create the best childhood for her kids through activities, traditions, adventures, exploration and experiences. My blog aims to inspire all of this. Other bits of me make up my blog as well, like my passion for photography, art, crafts, my love for baking and cooking and family updates. I'm an ex art teacher of over 10 years and my art projects for kids make appearances from time to time, too. You can also find me on Bloglovin', Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and at my photography website and its Facebook page! /// The Mommy Blogger Collective /// Christina, Courteney, Dena, Erica, Erin, Gillian, Katie, Misty, Nicole, and Renée. ///

happy friday!

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happy friday!
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roman had his very first field trip today to the museum and he had the best time, of course. aaron and i were able to take our littlest out to lunch and shopping for wedding clothes. although our food was pretty much the worst and too expensive, and asher was screaming at me in the dressing room because he did not approve of my outfit choice, it has still been an all around good day.
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it's sunshiny and warm and i'm sure we'll spend the afternoon adventuring outside in one way or another. well, as soon as the boys stop fighting. and i have some coffee... so is life. ;)
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have a good easter weekend everyone!!
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rainy days.

     i took these photos last sunday, on a rainy day. we dropped aaron off at work in the rain and i spontaneously planned to hold a little photo shoot of both boys in their room wearing matching pajamas. they clean their room on sundays now, so it seemed like a perfect time. much to his brother's relief, asher decided to steal the show and so it turned into this. he would give me his best jumps and then run over to check the photos on the back of my camera. he was so impressed with himself and his "flying". i would give him a big smile and he would absolutely beam with pride. we had such a special, sweet time. i cannot stress enough how important these moments are to me: these are truly the photos that i live for. and yeah, i'm pretty impressed with him as well - these photos are awesome.       I have had the pleasure of getting to know a great group of ladies in the past couple months. If you are looking for some wonderful new blogs to read, check out the links below!

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"Rain" is the April writing prompt of The Mommy Blogger Collective. In addition to a monthly writing prompt, the collective hosts a monthly blogger featurette. This month we are featuring Katie of Hello, Little Bean. A few words from Katie --- Hi! I'm Katie and I write a blog called 'Hello, Little Bean.' It's about life as a new mom to my cute daughter, Lark Story. I'm California born and raised, but currently live in Michigan with my soon-to-be husband, James and my soon-to-be stepson, Brennan, as well as our little Lark and two kitties. I'm a full-time graphic designer who loves all things artistic and creative. I'm overly sensitive and sentimental, sarcastic and foul-mouthed at times, a foodie and a reality tv junkie who's completely and utterly in love with motherhood. You can also find me on instagram, facebook, pinterest and our little online boutique, Bold Threads. .

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 /// The Mommy Blogger Collective /// Christina, Courteney, Dena, Erica, Erin, Gillian, Katie, Misty, Nicole, and Renée. ///

happy friday.

these photos: enough said.
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happy friday everyone!

portraits of asher.

(( portraits of asher // 32 months ))

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     i am completely smitten with these photos. asher is continuing his phase of actually enjoying having his picture taken and i couldn't be happier about that. yesterday i was able to have two different mini-sessions of him in the boys' bedroom, which is the absolute best room for natural light photos in our house. these photographs just fill me up inside. entirely. i am a big fan of plain backgrounds and sweet faces and this set of photos remind me a little of these + these.

 

soft, gentle moments.

     moments like the ones you see here, hold such healing and magic for me. i mean really, truly, they do. painting photographs. writing them as a poem, bundling them up one heavy click at a time, to be read later and forever. for myself , for them, maybe for others. these photographs were taken during a  quiet evening outside. and my heart was quieted as well when i saw the light settling perfectly on his creamy peach-baby skin. highlighting his hair, his fingers, his chin, his lips. a slow and steady peace settled inside of me as i captured these soft and gentle moments. and with these, part of my heart is pictured as well.

 

treasure.

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     last week was stressful and i was preparing for an "outside of my box" photography job that i had scheduled this past saturday. and if any of you out there are photographers, you may know that it is less than easy to coax your littlest family members into playing model for you, especially when you really need it. this particular evening, i took roman and asher outside to practice with some new equipment and even though i had used a lollipop during asher's nap to bribe roman into standing still for me, he just about melted in drama for the camera. but asher! asher miraculously just kept saying, "ok!" and plopping down in front of me beaming with absolutely ridiculous toothy grins every time. it was just perfect. we've always said that asher's temperament is extreme in every way. when he is wild, he is wild, wild, wild as can be. but when he is sweet, he is the sugariest sweetest candy of them all. i was just about to put my camera away when i noticed that the sun was starting to set at just the perfect angle over the condo building across from ours. you know, that perfectly magical sunshiney/shimmery/golden light that i love best. so i asked asher to sit down one more time and these next photos are what followed. they are filled to the brim with so much sugary sweet candy-boy goodness. the littlest, wildest, treasure of my heart.

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