Okay, I Lied

I know I said that I would be back yesterday to post some photos of our Christmas shoot, but I was wrong. I didn't come back at all yesterday and I decided not to post them today either. I don't know if I will get another Christmas shoot in or not, but I decided that I don't want to post the photos on here until I get the Christmas cards made up. Then I will post them. But I won't leave without posting photos from today.

After chasing Ella around all day, trying to capture her funny little self, this is the best shot I got. She has been obsessed with these wings lately. She calls herself a butterfly and runs around the house saying "tweet, tweet, tweet", despite my best efforts to assure her that butterflies do not in fact say "tweet". I'm not sure what's with her expression, though. I think she was just determined that I couldn't get a photo of her with her "normal" face. I think she looks like she might a future rock star or something :) I also decided to bring out Lily's jumperoo today since she has been so excited about standing on her feet. As soon as I put her in it she started screaming, but the second that I started moving her around and she could feel her feet under her, she loved it. She also loved the lights and sounds that it made. Yay for mommy! Another way to keep her occupied for a couple minutes at a time. And of course Ella wanted to rediscover the jumperoo too. She never takes any interest in Lily until a new toy comes into the picture. Then she's all over her. Oh well, I'm just glad that they spent a couple of minutes together today, especially since Lily loves to watch Ella so much.

Ella's Special Day

Yesterday was Ella's special day. We really haven't spent any time alone with her since Lily was born, so we left Lily with her grammy and took Ella out for the day. We went to the library first to pick out some books. She was really excited to do that until she spotted the toys that were there and then it was left up to mommy and daddy to pick out the books. After the library we went out for supper at a big girl restaurant (ie. NOT McDonalds) and then headed to the Santa Claus parade. Luckily we were smart enough to take a couple of chairs along with us because it was a very cold, slightly rainy hour-and-a-half long parade. Ella loved every single minute of it. She got to have treats, stay up late, and was very excited to see every single character in the parade, including Santa. Sadly, I didn't get any photos of her at the parade because of the rain, but I promise that she loved it. After the parade we did a bit of shopping and then Ella passed out on the way home. We all had a really great day.

Since I didn't get any photos on our outing, I'll post a couple of Ella working on her letter to Santa to take to the parade. She was very excited that daddy was going to help her write it. She called him her "big helper buddy".

Here she is with daddy writing her letter.Working very hard to draw Santa a beautiful picture.

This is her finished letter. She couldn't decide on exactly what to ask for, so she just asked for surprised. Four to be exact. Oh, and she was kind enough to ask for three surprises for her little sister too :)Check out this E that she wrote all by herself! I was very proud of her, since I have never taught her how to do this. She has been able to recognize the letters in her name for a while now, but I was surprised to see that she could put her "E" on paper all by herself. Proud mommy moment!Oh, and check back tomorrow when I will {hopefully} have a few photos ready from our semi-failed Christmas photo shoot today. Let's just say that my kids may never ever look at the camera at the same time!

Changes

I can't believe how much my girls change on a daily basis. Ella is constantly cracking me up with her funny comments and actions and Lily is growing so fast and even laughed out loud for the first time yesterday. That was really shocking to me, since Ella didn't really laugh out loud until she was about seven months old. But Lily definitely laughed yesterday, out loud, three times. It was the cutest thing ever. I have been trying ever since to get her to do it again and do you think I can? Absolutely not. I think the only reason she laughed in the first place was to get me to act crazy for the next few months trying to get her to do it again.

Lily is also finally big enough for her exersaucer, which she loves for a few minutes at a time. And, of course, Christmas is coming and Ella is getting sooooo excited. She likes to flip through flyers and point out everything that "Ho Ho" should bring her. She is very excited about the Christmas decorations, including the stockings that she thinks should go on her feet, though I haven't been able to catch that with the camera yet. She liked Christmas last year, but I think this year is even bigger and better for her.

I'm working on translating some of these changes into photos, but since my kiddos don't always cooperate with me, I only have a few for today.

Ella as Santa EeyoreLily's first time in the exersaucer

My little beauty, starting to look so much older

Lily is 3 Months Old!

Wow, time is flying by! I can't believe that Lily is 3 months old already and getting so big. It is so fun to watch her discovering new things everyday. I tried to do a 3 month photoshoot with her on Friday, but it didn't go so well. I'm going to try to do some more tomorrow. I'd like to get outside for some more natural shots, but it is supposed to rain all week long so that may not happen. For now I will leave you with a couple of shots that I did manage to get on Friday. I usually don't like babies in headbands, but I've recently developed a liking for them as a photo prop. I wouldn't take her out like this on a daily basis, but I think it made for a pretty cute photo.

Play Date with Hailey and Carter

Today was a very busy day! We spent most of the day visiting with Hailey and Carter and had lots of fun. Ella and Hailey are finally at a point where they actually play together, interacting, and not just playing side by side. It was really cute to watch them chasing each other around and playing dress up. I guess it won't be too long until Carter and Lily are joining in the fun too. I can't believe how fast time is going! I only had a few minutes to edit a few shots tonight, so here's a little peek into our playdate today.
Carter and Hailey snuggling in the rocking chair. Carter just hanging out. Lily has discovered that she can get her fist in her mouth and she now does it all the time. Carter was practicing standing up...this shot was right before he fell over. Ella was pretty proud of her princess costume that she put together all by herself.And finally, Lily and Carter, hanging out together.

Changing the Blog

As I mentioned the other day, I feel the need to have two separate blogs now - one for my family photos and one for my other photo shoots. I also decided to change my title from photo of the day because, let's face it, I am really bad at posting photos every day. I am doing pretty well at taking the photos, but by the time I get the kids in bed I rarely have the energy to sit down, edit the photos, and post them before I crash. Then I feel really bad and guilty because I didn't post my photo of the day. So to take some of the pressure off of myself and so that I don't have people wondering where my daily posts are, I am just going to blog when I have the time. It will be bits and pieces of our lives, hopefully at least a few times a week and maybe more. So just to confuse everyone, our family blog is at this new address (where you are now): www.themckinleyfamilyblog.blogspot.com and my other photo shoots will be blogged at www.meganmckinleyphotography.blogspot.com. How is that for confusion? If you're still reading this, thanks for following me!

Studio Style Shoot

Today I was supposed to have a lovely outdoor fall shoot, but the weather didn't want to cooperate with us so I had my first ever studio-style shoot (with someone other than my own kids). Victoria and Owen were great little models for me and let me move them and pose them and take lots of photos, even though Owen was more interested in playing like any normal three-year-old would be. Despite my nervousness, I did manage to get some good shots and I hope the Becks will be pleased with them. What I realized is that studio-style shooting is way more difficult than outdoor shooting - well, at least for me. I think that if I had an actual studio with proper lights and proper backdrops it would be much easier and probably a lot of fun, but my makeshift studio really provided me with some challenges. Nonetheless, I am pretty happy with how the shots turned out and I hope that the Becks will be too. Take a peek!