Hanging in there.....

This week has been incredibly busy......single parenting takes a toll on this mama, that's for sure! Carter and I didn't have a chance to snap many pictures this week, but I have a gorgeous outdoor wedding to shoot later today, so there will be pictures coming soon. Then I have a girls' night out planned for tonight and I plan on having a fantastic time. Tomorrow, we are having our families over for a BBQ to celebrate Mother's Day. The weather should be perfect, and I'm excited to sit back, relax, and enjoy the company of our family. Stay tuned for more updates!!

Weekend Recap.....a day late

This weekend was {mostly} crazy busy.......and I didn't even have a photoshoot!

To start off the weekend, Friday evening, Carter and I were in his room putting his laundry away. And he managed to lock us inside his room. Don't even ask. No, my phone wasn't with me (which wouldn't have helped anyway because Eric was still driving home from Oregon at that specific point in time). My only option was to climb out Carter's window and pray that the side door to the garage was open. I'm notorious for keeping my house locked down like a fort (you just never know with all the crazies out there!), so I wasn't too hopeful that I would be able to get inside. To my great surprise (and relief), the door was unlocked and I was able to get inside through the garage. At that point, I was laughing too hard to be mad at Carter....and Eric got quite the laugh too, once he got home.

Saturday was an extremely busy day. My car was in desperate need of an oil change and rear brake replacement. So we dropped off my car and headed out to breakfast. After we stuffed our bellies, we headed to the mall so that I could scout out Mother's Day gift ideas. We happened upon a beautiful watch that matched my diamond necklace (from my first Mother's Day), and I knew I had to get it.
While I was getting the watch sized, Eric and Carter rode up and down the escalator....Carter is now obsessed. I don't even have to take the kid to the fair this year! We can just go to the mall and ride the escalators!

After picking up my car, I headed over to my mother-in-law's house to have an afternoon full of scrapbooking and chatting. We had a really good time, but I only got three cards done! Since Eric is gone during the weeks, I think I will resume my scrapbooking.

Sunday, we had planned on going shooting, but it was too windy. Not exactly ideal conditions to be shooting. So we went back to the mall to exchange the watch - there was a minor defect. Fortunately, they had another. It was a long trip through the mall, so Carter opted to ride on Eric's shoulders.....we didn't bring the stroller and I sure wasn't going to pay to use one of the mall's strollers.

Sunday evening was a pretty lazy evening....we watched several of the "Life" episodes we had DVR'd from the Discovery Channel. Carter LOVES these shows because he gets to watch and learn about many different animals. He almost makes a better narrator than Oprah! ;) And this child is definitely his father's child - he begged me to tickle his back the entire time. Eric constantly asks me to do this, and my brother was the same way when he was a child. Must be a boy thing!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

{Wedding} Amber & Craig

I had the wonderful opportunity to shoot a wedding this last weekend.....at a little white church in the mountains of Idaho City (which is about 45 minutes north(ish) of Boise). This couple was extremely laid back (no bridezilla here!!), which made my job quite enjoyable. Add to that the fresh, mountain air and we've got a winner of a photoshoot!! Here are some samples.

A light-hearted moment!

Weekend Recap

This weekend was a very busy weekend for us. I dropped Carter off with my parents Friday evening. I had a wedding to shoot bright and early up in Idaho City Saturday morning and Eric was still in Oregon working. Sounds like Carter had fun with Papa and Grandma, and I got a free night to myself.....which doesn't happen very often.

The wedding was a fantastic success. It was a small, intimate ceremony (which was also a full-blown Catholic ceremony) in a little white church in the mountains of Idaho City. Couldn't really ask for a better setting than the great Idaho outdoors!

The drive there and back were just amazing. It was a little cool outside, but I opened up the moonroof and blared some good music. It was the most peaceful couples of hours I have had in a long time. A lot of things were put into perspective that drive, and I feel more confident about where I'm at in life and the recent decisions I have made. I will have more wedding pictures later this week when I finish the editing process.

Saturday evening, Eric made it home from Oregon. It's been four months since his accident.....which is still just surreal to me that he survived. I remain grateful that he is in my life and that my son has his daddy. So after two quick pictures, the camera was put away and we spent quality time together.....just the three of us. We played, we laughed until our stomachs hurt, we conquered potty-training, we watched parts of a couple of movies, we took a nap together, we were a family. With Eric being gone so much for work for the foreseeable future, our time together will be a matter of quality over quantity.

We also managed to run a lot of errands. When you only have a day and a half together, you cram in as much as you possibly can. We made our last payment on our patio furniture, so we went to pick up our new stuff.....and the assembly began. What a process!! There was more bubble wrap and shrink wrap (I was actually wrapped in shrink wrap - head to toe....as a prank by an ex and his brother - the stuff is NOT easy to handle!) than necessary, so most of our time was spent cutting our furniture out of the wrap. But eventually, we managed to get it all assembled and set up on the patio. This isn't where it will stay as we still need to get rid of the picnic table. But for now, the set looks just fine where it is. And that was our weekend. Eric will head back to Oregon and I'll have another week of single parenting with my little guy. Hope you all had a great weekend too!!

A Sneak

I shot a wedding up in Idaho City today....in a little white church, in the mountains. It was fantastic. Here is a sneak.......

Making a Mess.....an Artistic Mess

Today, I felt like doing something creative with Carter after work. So we stopped and got him lots of new shirts for spring and summer, and then a couple movies at Hastings because they had a great sale going on, and then we hit up the dreaded Wal-Mart (it was closest, trust me) to buy our supplies.

I think most moms cringe when they see paints because you just never know where that paint is going to land.....or if it's TRULY washable.

So I let Carter pick out his preferred brush. There were two other ones in the running as well, but blue and green are always his favorites.

And he set off to work!

I love the little dots he did!!

Checking out the damage.....wondering if he got more on his arms than the paper.

Which is clearly NOT the case......here is his masterpiece!!