{monkey extravaganza}

James Ryan had a lot of fun at his monkey bash. We went a little over board on the monkey theme:)

We had monkey centerpieces that were given as prizes to the winners of 'Pin the Banana on the Monkey'



We had great food paired with monkey wine....



and a fabulous monkey cake made by Aunt Laura.



By the time we sang, I think James Ryan was a little bewildered and tired becaue he missed his afternoon nap. He didn't really get into the cake, but don't worry, we have something fun planned for his real bday on the 6th.




Big thanks to everyone who came to the party, and especailly to everyone who was a huge help with the preparation, set up, clean up, etc. We really appreiciate it!!

James Ryan got so many wonderful gifts, he loves all of them:) Thanks again!

Birthday shoutouts!!!!

Three of out great friends are celebrating bdays this week - Taryn, Courtney, and Melissa. Happy Bday ladies - I hope your day is great!

I hope to get a few photos of James Ryan's Monkey Bash up on the blog later tonight. It was so fun:)

nakey

Diapering and clothing James Ryan is a mini wwf match these days. He fights, squirms, whines, wiggles, and tries to escape every time we change him. I thought I had won the diaper battle of the evening, but I was wrong, about ten minutes after bathing and diapering him, look what I saw toddling down the hall...

A nakey baby, diaper no where in sight. James Ryan is holds the mini wwf title of the diaper wars for the moment:}

beach bums

the birms minus kelsey

i love this one, it makes me happy...ahh..vacation...

how cute is billy bee??

and of course, james ryan...he learned how to wave bye-bye yesterday, i'm so proud of him:) i know, he doesn't look like the cleanest child here...learning how to walk+the beach = many headers into the sand. he had a great time though, i swear;)

happy weekend!

A few more...Which one do you like best?

Which one is your favorite from this post and the 'real deal' post below?
Please place your vote in the comments section.








Miss A reeaaally liked the leaves. Maybe she'll be a tree hugger like me:-)
Not sure why the leaves are changing in the 90 degree August weather, some of the photos look like fall photos.

Here is another outtake, some focus issues here, but we were jumping and I had to include this...

The real deal

Ok, a few more from this morning and more to come:)

Outtake

I'm going through the images from my fun photo session this morning and I keep coming back to this one and cracking up...


This cutie-patutie is so full of personality at 2 years old! Watch out world:)
I have lots of cute photos to share from this morning, more later.

TGIF

Hope you all have a great weekend!



I have a lot of fun things planned. Grandma Sue is coming to see me, (hooray!) and I'm going to the beach.

Love,
James Ryan

Blackout...

I was updating this blog last night and we had a blackout so I lost the post:( We were without power for about 4 hours so we lit candles and ate all the ice cream out of the freezer:) I was mad that I lost the blog post at first, but it was so nice to have a really quiet night, no computer, no tv...just ice cream and conversation.

I love the convenience that cell phones, computers, DVRs, black berries, wireless internet, etc, provide, however...sometimes it takes a 'Blackout' to turn it all off and really relax. That's kind of sad.

In honor of last night, we're instituting a biweekly 'blackout night' at our house, absolutely no TV, computer, phone calls, just QT.

Note to all readers close by - I'm focusing on my photography this weekend. I have a few client shoots in the coming weeks and I'd like to work on a few things before then. I also rented an awesome lens that I have to send back next week. Anyone who would like to model and is avaibale for a mini photoshoot tomorrow, Sat, Sun, or Monday, let me know your availability. I prefer to shoot outdoors in the morning (finish by 10 am) or about 90 minutes before sunset. You get a complimentary 5x7 for your time.

{Edited to add: I have a taker for tomorrow:) and we are going to the shore on Sunday, I still have some time on Saturday and Monday evenings.}

Big news...James Ryan is walking!!!

Ok, so he's not completely steady on his feet yet and not Speedracer (yet), but he's been taking 5-6 steps on his own! He's own his way! I think he'll be a professional walker by his first Birthday. He has been keeping us on our toes for sure and we're really going to have to step it up with the baby proofing, our boy loves to play with things that aren't toys, such as the computer, the phone, the fax machine, the contents of canbinets and drawers. He really loves electronics, he broke the CD drive on our computer:(

I have been busy this week, I've been neglecting this blog and don't have any new photos to share today...sorry. I promise to do a monster photo post this weekend.

{Edited to add}...I just can not bring myself to hit the 'Publish Post' button with out sharing at least one photo...here is one snapshot of Declan from his second Bday party. This boy is going to be a heartbreaker, he is soooo cute...even when he has food on his face.