1 Year Photo Shoot!!!

I can't believe that my baby turns 1 year old next week!!! In honor of the occasion, I took Mara's 1 year pictures over the weekend. With Grammy's help to get Mara to smile and stay within my viewfinder I was able to get quite a few good pictures! I haven't had time to photoshop all of them yet, but I thought I would put a little "teaser" up online for everyone. More to come...

Lots of Stuff

Lots of stuff has happened since my last post...Christmas, Mara started walking, etc. etc., but I don't have time to post on all of it right now. I spent my few minutes of internet time today posting all of the Christmas cards that I created on my design website. Some of you have asked to see them, so if you want to check them out, head on over to www.InspiredDesignStudios.blogspot.com and take a peak. (You'll notice that there is no Christmas card of Aaron, Mara, and me...I didn't have time to make one of my own! LOL) I hope to have more time to post on some of the recent fun of parenting and the holidays really soon!!

Kimono!!

My friend Margo made this adorable Kimono for Mara so I snapped some pictures of her in it last night. She wasn't as cooperative as I had hoped, but I still got a few good shots. Margo, thanks again for the absolutely adorable kimono!! It is just toooo cute!!

Mara

I had a mini photo shoot with her yesterday and she was amazingly cooperative! These are some of new favorite pictures of my baby.

Photo Fun!

I had a photo shoot with Kade last weekend and it was so much fun! I posted the pictures on my Inspired Design Studios blog since they are photography related, but since Kade is also related to me, I wanted to post here too:) If you want to see the rest of the pictures from the photo shoot, including pictures of Nick, Jen, and Mara, head on over to www.InspiredDesignStudios.blogspot.com

Another Blog

I started another blog! I will still be using this blog for my personal blog, aka "pictures of Mara blog," but I have started a new blog for my custom design business. The new blog is still a work-in-progress, but I wanted to get it up and running in the hopes that I will get some holiday card and Christmas gift orders. Wish me luck! Keep checking out "The Cassandra Chronicles" and please add my new blog, "Inspired Design Studios" to your list... www.InspiredDesignStudios.blogspot.com

Good Luck Today Uncle Amos!

I can't vote for you anymore since I don't live in your district, but I sure hope everyone else in the district votes for you today! Good luck!!

“It is my hope that I will be able to continue my service to my district by serving both local constituents and local government organizations. Most importantly, I am looking forward to dealing with all the issues facing the legislature in the upcoming session, such as improving education, strengthening Indiana’s job market, furthering economic development, and continuing to develop cohesive transportation infrastructure.”


Sincerely,

Amos
State Representative

Halloween Party!

My company has a Halloween party for all the employees children every year and this year was the best because I had a child to bring to it. Mara loved it too! She loved seeing the kids all dressed up and a lot of our offices were decked out for the event and she loved that too. She kept saying "Oooooo," about everything and when she got really excited, she would say "Ooooo" in a high pitched voice. Everyone was getting a kick out of it. Her two favorite areas in the building were the finance department, that was decorated like Dr. Suess stories (I didn't get a picture of it though) and the art department that went all out as "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." They photoshopped their heads onto Oompa Loompa's in the hallway and Margo even dressed up as one for real, but I don't have a picture of her:( Mara liked Tim's Oompa Loompa head the best and tried to take him with her.






Other highlights included:

Mara's first cupcake. Daddy only gave her the icing though and he stole the cupcake from her and ate it himself. Mara licked her lips for a half an hour after this...no lie



Her name was on a star on the "Walk of Fame!"



Then she mangled the star that had our last name on it.


Then there was some play time with friends.

Bobbi


Gavin and Jessi (and Mickey Mouse)


Becky


Then she tried her first piece of candy. I saved the best for last...

Another Halloween Collage

You can tell what I've been doing with my free time lately, huh? Our new computer let's me Photoshop so much easier than our slow old one that required waiting upon waiting for each feature to happen. I'm lovin' it!

New Camera

I'm on the hunt for a new digital camera...a professional one and I'm so excited! I love Photoshopping and it will be so much better when I have great quality original images to start with! I've found the camera that I want and am price shopping for the best deal. Watch out Mara, you're about to be blinded by camera flashes very soon! (hopefully!)

The Group Hug

This was the first time that Mara was included in the traditional "cousins" group hug during the goodbyes at a family gathering so I had to commemorate it with something special...even if Mara is chewing on her shoe in the picture:)

Mara, You've Got Mail!

Mara got a bright orange envelope in the mail today so I put her on my lap to help me open it. I said, I bet this is from Grammy and Grandpa and sure enough the return address said, word for word, "Grammy and Grandpa." Aaron and I got a good laugh out of that. As Mara and I pulled the Halloween card out of the envelope, she was grinning from ear to ear and as I unfolded and read the card to her she bounced with glee on my lap. It's safe to say that she was thrilled with her first Halloween card. Thanks Grammy and Grandpa!

Learning to write...

My friend Margo's son, Max, is learning to write. This picture was sent to me with the email title "Proud Parent Moments." I'm sure this isn't the first or the last time that Margo has/will be "proud" of him like this. LOL. It sure gave me a good laugh this morning though!

Family Pictures!

Beth took our family pictures yesterday and they turned out beautifully! We are in love with them!!!!!!!! These are the images that Beth has posted on her blog and she said there are more to come! Yippee!!! Thanks again Beth! We can't thank you enough for giving us such wonderful memories to treasure.

Hi Katie!!

I found out this weekend that my friend, Katie, is an avid reader of my blog so I thought I would say "Hi!" and share a couple photos for her. Here's Katie's son, Jared, the cutest little Dragon ever!

(Katie, just click to enlarge the image and then right click to save it.) :) Enjoy these "Photoshopped" pictures...on the house:)

8 Months!

Mara is almost 9 months old and I finally got around to doing her 8 month photoshoot today. I incorporated the Halloween theme since it's October and then I Photoshopped them into a collage. My little girl is getting so big!!! (Click on the image to enlarge)



I had to include this too. This is what it looks like when an 8 month old gets fed up with having her picture taken and decides to pull the backdrop down. She thought it was quite hilarious of course!

Viola!

Through the magic of Photoshop, "Grumpy Mara" becomes "Happy Mara."





I used her face from this picture and Photoshopped it into the "4 Generations" picture:) It was quite a daunting task for someone who's an amateur like I am, but I'm pleased with the results!

A Year Late in Posting This One!

I was going through the pictures on my computer and came across this picture. This was created for me last fall by my friend, Tom, in the art department where I work. He called me "Wonder Woman" for the rest of my pregnancy.

On the original copy, Tom put "Appearing Live At" and then inserted our company logo on the bottom right side of the picture, but for internet safety purposes, I took that part off.

I would have given anything to have this body while I was pregnant! I may not have had the most comfortable pregnancy ever, but at least I had friends to keep me laughing through it! Heck, I'm still laughing about this one a year later!

1 Month Old Already!

My how time flies! Kade is already one month old. He weighs 10 lbs. 10 oz. too! He’s going to be a big boy! These are some of the pictures that Jen sent out in his “1 month old” update email. He’s such a cutie! I just can’t get enough of him!





We got to see Kade last weekend (on his actual 1-month birthday!) and these were some of the highlights.

Kade, showing off his muscles and wearing his "camos" for Uncle Aaron.

This is what I miss about Mara being tiny...the cuddles.

Aunt Jen entertaining Mara with Max.


Uncle Nick and Mara had a great time together too…drinking and sleeping. LOL.




I love seeing Nick with Mara. It’s so fun to see your children loving the same people that you love… and Mara sure does love Nick. Hopefully Kade will feel the same way about me! There’s something really special about seeing my daughter with my brother. It’s just strange because you grow up with someone and know all the goofy things about them (like how they can impersonate Ace Ventura perfectly) and then all the sudden you are adults and sharing some of life’s most special moments together, like raising children. I’m just so grateful that Nick and I are so close and hopefully our kids will be too! I just wish that we lived closer! I miss Nick and Jen now more then ever because I want Mara and Kade to grow up together. At least the holidays are coming soon so we will get to see them more as a result.

Here are some more of my favorite pictures of Uncle Nick and Mara. These were taken at the hospital when Kade was born. Mara had a blast playing with Uncle Nick. I think he enjoyed it too : )