celebrating 3!

on sunday, with serious help from our friend lesli (the decor would not have been nearly as epic without her!), we threw together a little belated birthday party for our newly 3 year old. her actual birthday was on the third, but seeing as matt & i had a few out of town weddings scheduled we decided to push her party back a few weeks. thankfully at this age she didn't seem to mind in the least. though she did tell everyone who said "happy birthday" that it wasn't her birthday and she had already had it. she was really quite adamant about it! so the phrase "happy birthday PARTY!" ended up being thrown around a lot that day. the kiddos made english muffin pizzas, the adults sipped mimosas, and we all went to town on a mountain of vegan doughnuts. friends, family, and food. it was simple, and it was perfect!

happy birthday (PARTY), my little bug!!!

sometimes...

sometimes you and your mr. need to go to the DMV, and sometimes there just so happens to be a 2 hour wait, sometimes you actually have your camera with you, and sometimes the stars align to give you fog AND a beautiful mountain overlook right outside. it's on these days that you absolutely take a few portraits of the fellow that still makes your heart skip a beat after dang near 10 years together...

home again, home again...

penny and i just got back from our trip to NY to visit some family. the kid had more fun with her cousins then i can even put into words (pics to come!). she's wiped, i'm wiped, but she already said she's going back next saturday. good luck with that, kid! and side note, it's fairly amazing to take a plane ride with an almost 3 year old. the ohhhhh's and ahhhhh's that came out of her... man, i wish i could bottle it up! 

a girl, a dog, and a nap...

oh, and a tutu...

our yesterday...

in one month this little girl will be turning 3 years old. for some reason this number is hitting me with a surprising amount of nostalgia. i wasn't the mom who sobbed at the first birthday milestone, and we celebrated two without even a hint of sadness. i honestly never understood when moms said they were so sad about their baby growing up. my thought was always, "well, what is the alternative?". but don't worry, now i get it! for whatever reason 3 seems to be the number that's making me feel all the feels! i'm not one bit sad that she's growing, i just simply can't believe the person she's becoming, and the little nugget she once was. it really all does just go so so fast! surprisingly, i haven't been taking quite as many photos of our day to day nonsense as i once was. wedding season, with a dash of family photo season, lead me to just putting the camera down at home. it didn't feel right though. my love for this craft developed out of a love for capturing our everyday mundane. the magic is in these moments and i want these moments documented here as well...