•••Chillin' With Baby G | Atlanta, GA Photographer•••

These last few days with Baby G have been definitely been entertaining. He is a feisty little guy who keeps me on my toes from sun up to sun down (and sometimes moon up to moon down). I love that he is finally awake, and becoming more and more aware of the world that surrounds his little self. I especially love that when he wakes from night time or nap time he gives a huge gummy smile when he sees that its me...it makes getting up at 1, 2, and 4am worth it (well most days). :) 

His personality is emerging as each day passes and if I had to make an early guess he is a mini daddy, with just a smidge of mommy thrown in. Check back with me during the teenage years and I will let you know if this is a good combo. :) For now, I am just enjoying my little two month old, and taking as many  pictures as possible before he can tell me no like his daddy does. :)

I know lots of you have been emailing and requesting an update, and I promise to get better about sharing more about G. Here are just some quick snapshots from this morning's playtime for now. Thank you all again for the well wishes and support! :)

  

•••Making A Comeback | Atlanta, GA Photographer•••

Whew, this blog has been super boring these last few weeks. So sorry to all my faithful blog readers. Mommyhood has been taking up 90% percent of my free time (the other 10% being filled with the exciting world of cleaning, laundry, dinner making, dog watching, and whenever possible maybe throwing a shower into the mix. :) ), but I wouldn't change it for a thing. Baby G is such a sweetie and we can't believe he will be six weeks old on Tuesday. He is getting bigger by the minute, and if we could freeze time right here we would. 

Slowly though getting back into the routine of things, so hopefully the blog won't be as boring! For now here is a quick pic of Baby G. :)

•••Baby G Arrived! | Atlanta, GA Photographer•••

Hi Everyone!

Just wanted to give you a quick update and share a few snapshots. :) Baby G has arrived. He made his 

appearance on January 25th at 10:33a.m. He was the tiniest little package at 5lbs, 6ozs and 18.5 inches. The last week and a half has been nothing but fun. We are definitely smitten with this little  
    guy, and still can't believe he is ours. :) I will try to post some soon from his official newborn shoot,
    but thought I would share a few of him chillin' in his bassinet this morning. Big thanks to all of you
    and your well wishes these last few weeks!!

    Much Love, 

    Jen

 

•••The Birthday Girl | Atlanta, GA Photographer•••

Today is Miss Bella's sixth birthday, and boy did she feel like celebrating! :)

Last night I had just settled down to watch the Britney Spears Episode of Glee when I heard a loud thump upstairs. I assumed it was the dogs playing and went back to watching TV. Unfortunately, I never got past the opening scene because Bella came down the stairs and made such a commotion that I looked over and saw that she was only using her back legs and she was whimpering. I immediately ran to her to get her weight off her front legs and it took about five minutes to get her to calm down enough to lay down. My next task was to try to figure out how to get her into my car to take her to our local emergency vet. Being pregnant I knew lifting Bella, who is fifty pounds, was probably not a good idea, but with the hubby being out of town I wasn't sure what else to do. Luckily, Bella was calming down and she stood up on her own so we made our way slowly to the garage. Just when I thought we were going to make it to the car her back legs gave out. I was doing my best not to freak out, but it was hard looking at her sad little puppy face and knowing she was in pain. Finally, we made it to the car and were on our way to the vets office.

I pull into the parking lot and debate what to do next. I decide to get someone to help me get her inside so neither of us hurt ourselves trying to get her to the check-in area. Well, lets just say Bella has perfected  the sad puppy face to a T and is apparently an excellent actress. I open my car door to get help and Bella leaps into the front seat and out into the parking lot and then sits by my feet shaking with excitement. Hmmm....I became a little suspicious.

I took her inside to get checked in and a short four and a half hours later they brought her to me and gave me the verdict. After much observation and testing, it was determined that nothing was wrong with Bella and that she was one hundred percent healthy. The vet even commented that she had the energy of a two year old rather than a six year old lab. Huh? All the dramatics and she is fine? Perplexed, we headed home and Bella must have been tired from her night out because she instantly ran upstairs and plopped down on her bed. Justen and I joked that she apparently really must have wanted to celebrate her birthday, and decided she would do so with a car ride and a wild night out.

Today she woke up good as new and ready to continue her birthday celebration with extra energy. I decided to take this in stride because I am so glad that she is okay. In the future though if she decides she wants to let loose on the town hopefully she will just call a cab and leave the her old dog mommy out of all the fun. ;)

Happy Birthday Bella!

•••Hello Mr. President! | Atlanta, GA Photographer•••

Life lately has been fun, exciting, and busy to say the least. As summer is winding down, and the knowledge that my ability to travel is quickly coming to a halt, I took advantage of some free time I had built into my schedule. For the better part of the last two weeks I have been out of town on some fun last minute trips.

First, Justen and I headed to D.C.  for a long weekend. Originally we had planned to go to Napa Valley, but in my current knocked up state I felt that would have just been torture. :) Those who know me know I love my wine, and to watch other people savor its deliciousness in front of me was not my idea of a good time. So random as it may seem the next city on my list was D.C. and I was so glad to make this choice. D.C. was a blast, and I love exploring places with my favorite traveling partner. We stayed in a lovely hotel that was only a block from the White House and within walking distance of some of D.C.'s biggest attractions and fun restaurants. I was glad we were so close to everything, as we must have logged thirty miles of walking by the time we visited everything. Each night my little feet were exhausted and I was asleep in my nice fluffy bed by 9p.m. Poor Justen, no night life for us this trip. ;)  The weather was perfect and made me so excited for cooler Fall weather.

We were both so sad when we had to leave, but I quickly perked up with a fun girls trip planned to Wilmington with my best friend Carrie Beth and her girls. I was in Atlanta for less than 12 hours before we headed out to CB's home town. It was so relaxing to hang out at the beach and just do some fun girly things the whole week. I can't even begin to thank her family enough for the great hospitality that they provided me while I was there. She has the sweetest family in the world and I love visiting them.

Now back in Atlanta and catching up on everything I have missed the last few weeks. I have lots of blog posts to share from just before I left so check back often. Here is a quick peek at some of my favorite moments in D.C. All are taken with my handy dandy point and shoot because well, lets face it, the last thing a pregnant girl needs is to walk around with an additional 10-15lbs of camera equipment. :)

•••Lots Of Announcements! | Atlanta, GA Photographer•••

Hi Everyone! This is going to be a blog full of catching up! :) 

Announcement #1: Just got back from a week's long vacation at Hilton Head Island with the husband and our best friends, the P family. It was so much fun! I miss it already! Plus the seven million loads of laundry to be done and grocery shopping made me realize that hotel life is the way to go. I mean who doesn't love the ocean at your door step, restaurants with chefs to cook for you three meals a day, and your bed magically gets made every single day? :) Today was back to reality though, and although I did love vacation, I realize I missed home and our pups too. I also missed the Internet! I think CB and I were going through withdrawals...our pretty little Mac laptops were staring us down in our rooms, but even thirty minutes of Internet each day would have required a small loan. Eek! So today I am catching up on all emails, gallery postings, blogs and orders. Hopefully tomorrow morning I will be all caught up for you guys!

Announcement #2: Our family of two adults and two doggie children will be growing this winter...I am pregnant! :) Some of you already know, but with my growing belly I thought it was time to officially announce that Baby G is on its way. Due date is set for sometime between January 30th - February 5th. For now I continue to photograph as normal, but with a much lighter schedule January to March. If you have any questions about how this might affect your already scheduled booking or a session you were planning for those months please shoot me an email or give me a call. Hopefully this will be a seamless transition for everyone, and the only difference you might see is the blog will be drastically over run with pictures of Baby G (poor child, they have no chance against me and my camera). :)

Announcement #3: Working on a few new AFS things that a few of you mentioned you would like to see or would be more helpful. The first of these is about to be launched, and even though it is not quite ready yet I thought I would give you guys a heads up. I am working on a spin off site and Etsy shop for all the paper products I offer. Several people mentioned they would like to see a shop of what is available so hopefully in the next few weeks this will be all set up for you guys. I will still take custom requests for everything, but for more visual people hopefully this will make things a little easier. Can't wait to share with you guys! 

All done with announcements for today! I hope everyone has a great Monday and for some I hope you have a great first week back to school!!

•••Green Is The New Black | Atlanta, GA Photographer•••

Happy Earth Day everyone! To celebrate Earth Day I thought we could share with each other what some of our earth saving tips are. Having a younger sister who is an Environmental Scientist, conservation is continually drilled to us. So in our house we do whatever we can to do our part (and to not suffer the evil glares from little sis). Here are a few of my favorites that we take part in:

(1) Recycling - It's easy and comes right to our door. :) If you don't have recycling service, I found this directory for local recycling centers.

(2) Planting - This time of year flowers and trees are blooming and are so pretty. We have been gardening fools here lately. My sister had passed along The Arbor Day Foundation website to me before we moved into our new house, and I was so excited to learn that with a membership you get 10 free trees!! They have a great selection and also do lots of promotions. It's a great organization to donate to, and who doesn't love free? :)

(3) Reading - I love to read, but I noticed that between the amount of books, magazines, and catalogues I was reading each week it was a lot of paper goods. Slowly, I have started trying to read more e-books and e-magazines. Also, I participate in an online book exchange. My friend Alison shared the PaperBack Swap site to me awhile ago, and it has been great so far. They have tons of children's books and DVDs on there as well.

Now it's your turn...What are some of your favorite Earth saving tips?

•••Two | Atlanta, GA Photographer•••

Two years...on Monday, the Husband and I celebrated our two year wedding anniversary. The day started like any other...we woke up, fought over who would get into the shower first, got ready for work and headed our separate ways. We knew it was our anniversary and had planned to try to get dinner that night before Justen flew out of town for work. Nothing special.

At 7:24a.m., I raced around the house in a panic (Justen won the shower battle) making sure I grabbed everything I needed for the day before heading out the door. Just as I was visualizing what my plan of attack would be for the morning rush hour, I saw our of the corner of my eye a package with my name on it. Justen, who most wouldn't call a romantic guy, had gotten me a present and not one, but two cards! And he wrote that he made reservations for dinner at a restaurant called Canoe and he would be in town for the night. I was shocked!

The whole hour and forty-five minute commute to work I had a big smile on my face. All day I was excited, and didn't let the fact that I might be eating marinated cow brains or roasted squid liver bother me (I exaggerate. I'm a super picky eater and Canoe is known for delicious game dinners. I am more of a plain chicken and potato girl, but I digress.).

Once we sat down to dinner to celebrate, we began to reminisce. We just couldn't believe how quickly the last two years had flown by! Caught up in the moment, Justen decided that he would like to make a toast. We ordered some wine, clinked our glasses, and then Justen said the most romantic words...

"Here's to an amazing two years of marriage so far, and an amazing two more."

Hmmm...

I had to laugh. So we will have a long happy four years together. :) I knew what he meant (I hope). Neither one of us have been known to be very eloquent at the more romantic moments of our relationship. So I toasted him back, and we had such a fun dinner together.



Thank you husband for planning such a wonderful surprise and making our two year anniversary super special! Love you bunches!


(P.S. - These pictures are copyright of AFS associate photographer Justen and his trusty Blackberry camera phone.)

•••The Dash: Photos | Atlanta Photographer•••

As many of you faithful blog readers know, last month I participated in the Diabetes Dash event last month in Atlanta. Due to a last minute injury, the public was not able to witness my amazing running ability (darn!), but my mom and I did participate in the 1 mile event. Several of my team members did participate in the 5k and did an amazing job! Thank you to all those who came out to support our team or the cause. To view some photos of the Diabetes Dash event click here. I think there are a few photos of our team and some individual members in there. :)

•••Eek! | Atlanta Photographer•••

Eek! Sorry the blog has been super super boring lately! In the last month our lives have been nothing but a crazy whirlwind. Between almost daily vet visits, doctor's appointments for mysterious illness, work emergencies, the usual family chaos, and throw in a random funeral and you have our month in a nutshell. At one point Justen and I looked at each other, laughed, and said "maybe we should have stayed on vacation?". So even though the blog has been boring, life has been anything but. :) I was able to take some photos along the way so hopefully I will get those up for you soon!

On a separate note, I wanted to remind you guys that this weekend is the annual event that I participate in. One day a year, I lace up my pink tennis shoes and break them out for a run in the Downtown Dash for Diabetes. Would love to see you guys there! If you are interested in joining here is a link to my team.

•••Beau & Bella: Winter Style | Atlanta Photographer•••

The last few weeks have been frigidly cold here in Atlanta. Most days our little family of four just hung out inside by the fire, but like most furry children (and non-furry children) being stuck in the house after a few days got old to Beau and Bella, and they began acting out. We lost a few rolls of paper towels, the Christmas tree and everything on it became a new chew toy, and Beau learned how to lift the toilet seat himself to drink the water out of it. Justen and I would put on about sixty-five layers of clothing with intentions of walking out their energy, but Beau and Bella being the pampered pooches they are made it about 200 feet before they decided that playing in central heating was much more desirable. Well Justen found a solution! I was working in my office one afternoon and I hear Justen come in laughing. I turn around and see he had dressed Beau and Bella up in their own matching winter coats. I died laughing and being that it was my office, and there are no shortage of cameras in there, I grabbed one and took a few quick snapshots.

Bella loved hers...she kept smiling. :)

The verdict is out on Beau. He was warmer yes, but I think he wanted something more his style...maybe more pink? :)



Bella decided to give Justen a big thank you for her new winter look...

•••Happy 2010! | Atlanta Photographer•••

I hope everyone had a fabulous New Year's holiday! Things on New Year's are always super fun around here. As I mentioned earlier, my husband's entire family is born sometime during the week between Christmas and New Year's. Justen rounds out the birthday extravaganza on NYE. This year we went to dinner at a local hibachi grill and then brought in the New Year with a party at our home. Every year we are so thankful that we have such awesome friends to celebrate with, and this year was no exception! Here is a super dorky photo of me and the birthday boy from the big night (all other photos are locked away for future blackmail). :)

Happy 2010 Everyone!!

•••Merry Christmas! | Atlanta Photographer•••

Wishing everyone a great Holiday!!

•••Sunset | Atlanta Photographer•••

On wet, rainy, cold weeks like this one I love to look at this...

This is from our trip to Barbados in April, and it makes me feel so happy and warm when I look at it! Just thought I would share the warmth with you guys! :)

(P.S. - This was taken with my rockin' point and shoot. No photoshop either...Barbados is just that beautiful!)

•••My Life•••

•••Two years...•••

...ago today this happened. :) Some of you might have read it already, but just thought I would share again. Someday I will get around to telling the Wedding Story...someday. ;)

•••Field Play•••

I hope everyone had a fabulous Memorial Day weekend! I am finally getting around to blogging something this week...sorry if things have been a bit boring lately! Last weekend we celebrated the holiday with some of our closest friends at a near by lake. It had been awhile since everyone was together so it was nice to catch up, ride on the boat, play games, and kick back with a glass of wine or two (maybe three). 

Just before we left, I had received a lens I had ordered for an event this upcoming weekend a little early. At the last second, I decided to bring my camera and new lens up to get a feel for it. I was so glad too...while practicing, I caught these few fun moments of Justen and our friend's daughter, Miss H, playing with daffodils. 

 

Ahhh...so sweet... :)

•••Vacation•••

Happy Friday everyone! I will be on vacation until Tuesday.  I will have very limited access to email and phone, but will try to check in once each day. I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend!

•••Back to School•••

As I mentioned earlier, I had gone up to Berry College for a photo shoot. BC is beautiful and will always hold a special place in my heart. When I learned that I was going to hold the shoot on Berry's campus, Justen and I decided to make a day of it. Both my sister and his brother attend Berry currently so we thought we might be able to catch up with them some. Then we decided that Beau and Bella might be behaved enough to visit this time as well...maybe.

Everything for the most part went according to plan. I arrived just in time to start the photo shoot early (the skies were darkening quick so we pushed the shoot forward two hours), and we went our separate ways until the shoot was finished. Justen took the Terrible Twosome towards main campus awaiting my little sister Kelley to arrive as back-up help...on the ride up he remembered he might need assistance as Beau has an over zealous addiction to squirrels and Bella has a freak obsession with mud puddles. She was smart enough to grab her boyfriend Chris figuring the more help the better their chances of survival. In the end apparently, there was only one casualty lost to the mud puddle.

After about an hour and a half, I met back up with everyone and we decided to drive around campus to take a few photos before dinner. Here we are at the Ford Complex and you can see that the clouds were looking ominous.

We drove up to Mountain Campus and visited the Old Mill. Added: Justen would like it to be known that he actually took this photo...oops, I am sorry... He took this masterpiece. Great job husband. Your work is flawless. Magnificent. Extraordinary! Okay, satisfied? Moving on...

Next up, Swan Lake.
I was surprised at how close that some of the animals would let us get to them!

Well, not all of the animals. These geese did not like us near their goslings. We pretty much hopped out of the car, snapped a few pictures, and jumped right back in. We had seen a goose attack before and it isn't pretty.

Here is Frost Chapel. This is where Justen and I got married last spring. We had to take this one quickly from the car. Tornado sirens were going off like crazy and the campus police were telling everyone to take cover. Yikes!

Our next two hours we spent in Kelley's on campus townhome taking cover from the bad storms. Nothing says adventure more than four people and two muddy dogs being locked in a small confined space, right? After the storms passed, we did the only thing we knew to do...celebrate our survival with hamburgers, french fries, and milkshakes. :)

Berry College...ah, the memories. :)

•••Vacation•••

Just a quick note. I will be on vacation next week out of the country. My trusty laptop will be coming with me, but email time will be limited. I will try to respond to emails at least once every few days.

Have a great week everyone and I will share some photos when we get back!