Happy Birthday my Sweet Girl!

16 years ago today, my life forever changed when I became an aunt for the first time. At a little over 9 lbs, she looked like the incredible hulk in the nursery window. All it took was a first glimpse and I was madly in love with the sweet baby we called Paige. I was all of 14 years old – and I don’t think at 14 I even knew I was capable of the love I felt for that girl.  

I was with that child almost every day of her life for the first few years, and that’s no exaggeration. She stayed at our house during the day & into the night when my sister worked with my dad, so I raced off the bus each day to get in the house and get my Paige time in. On the days my sister wasn’t at our house, I was riding my bike in the winter to see my baby, and every Tuesday & Thursday, I spent the night at my sisters so they could go out. (Not to mention, she was all of 3 days old when my sister called me and said, “Do you want to come spend the night and watch Paige for me?”) 

All of this led to a bond I wouldn’t give up for the world. I wanted her attached to my hip growing up, and I got exactly what I wanted. I was more than the doting aunt, I made every attempt to be the best aunt she could ever ask for. She knew if Mom said “No” to a toy, Aunt Nicole was going to say “Yes!” – and she still knows that today. And not only did I want to spoil her, I wanted to be there for her. From first day of preschool to school programs –  I made every effort imaginable to be there. When I moved away super briefly, I ended right back here because at the end of the day, being away from the kids – especially during their formative years – wasn’t something I enjoyed.

I know people love to tell me “when you have your own children, it won’t be the same as your niece and nephew”. No, I don’t have kids. (And I think we’ve already established that I don’t want them.) So you can try to tell me this (but please don’t, I really hate your unrequested advice), but I promise you: There will never be two people in the world that I love more than these two kids. Period. These kids not only taught me how to love, they brought out the best in me. I excel every day because I’m an influence in their life, and I want them to reach their fullest potential.

Happy Sweet 16 Paige! I wouldn’t trade being your aunt for anything in the world!

Sunday Social!

I really wanted to brag on my sleeping in skills again, but....being up at 8:30 am isn't exactly sleeping in. Especially when we didn't get to sleep until 3 am. I need to get some client editing in today, but.... Sigh - I see a nap in my future. But that comes later - first is brunch with the girls, because there's nothing better than Hot Chicken & Waffles from Hattie B's! We know how to do brunch right in the south!

1. What is your favorite breakfast food?

I could eat breakfast food every day, all day. I love alllll breakfast food, but I'm a sucker for some really amazing waffles or french toast! I also have a mad love for hashbrown casserole, but I'm super allergic to onions, so I can't always have it :( As much as I love it, my throat closing up ranks pretty high on the "things I don't enjoy" list. 

2. What is the best way to spend a free day?

It depends on the weather ; ) If it's a nice day, I might want to go shoot some photos. But if I'm being lazy at home, it's usually going to be spent with my iPad & Netflix! 

3. If you had an airline ticket to anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

Venice, Italy! 

4. You can only leave the house with one thing...what is it?

my iPhone. It's really ridiculous how obsessed I am with it. 

5. How do you take your coffee?

Latte style ;) I go to Starbucks usually every day and get a Soy Latte with 5 pumps of sugar free vanilla. (yeah, I'm one of those jerks that has specific amount of pumps & all that!) 

capturing moments....

Weekend, weekend! I've been so happy to sleep in - I may or may not have refused to get out of bed until almost noon today. Don't judge me, I earned being lazy. Next weekend will be super super busy, so this weekend I really needed some down time to get some client editing in.

This week, I shot a birth for a sweet family that I've been doing family portraits for for a few years. Shooting births is usually tricky - since babies typically come when they want to come. I'm on call for my birth sessions, but -- some babies come faster than others! Fortunately for us, Miss Lillie was stubborn, so they scheduled her birthday.

My favorite thing when I'm shooting is telling a story -- which isn't always possible when I'm doing portraits (but IS why outtakes wind up being my favorites!) -- so shooting things like births, weddings, events are such a rush for me. I have in my head what it would look like if I were to lay it out in a photo book. It's also amazing to be in the delivery room with Mom & Dad, to capture the biggest moment in their lives with them.

It's also a great moment for me to shoot B&W, which is one of my biggest loves.

A quiet morning it was!

10:43 a.m - the time little Lillian took her first breath. 

Welcome to the word, sweet Lillian Grace!

The important part of the day was getting big sister in the room to meet her little sister - she couldn't have been anymore smitten with that baby!

And she never let her baby sister out of her sight! 

Happy Birthday Sweet Lillie! Mom & Dad already have her signed up for 5 sessions for the next year, so I'll be getting lots of time with this sweet face. I can't wait to watch her grow!

"What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that's gone forever, impossible to reproduce." - Karl Lagerfeld

"None of your business" category...

It's been a "lets dodge tornados!" kind of night in Nashville. Which basically translates into Nicole spent an hour in her closet tonight painting her nails to the glow of an iPad because the power was out while sipping on vodka watching "Scandal" while the sirens went off. Just another night in the south....

So, in todays ramblings....

On Facebook recently,  I saw a status from a friend that said she was going to post a gross pregnancy fact for the rest of the duration of her pregnancy just to piss off her “self-absorbed child-hating hipster friends”. (and every bit of that is verbatim) In more comments, she connected “child-less” people with “self-absorbed child-hating” people, and was extremely agitated that anyone that “could bear children would choose not to”, asking me 20 questions about if I could have kids, why wouldn't I want to have them, and every thing under the sun you can imagine. She concluded it with “Let the un-friending begin!” Um, no problem, I'm gonna help you out with that. 

Look: I love babies and kids. I wasn’t a Nanny & a Preschool Teacher previously for no reason – I LOVED every moment with those babies. I’m great with kids. And to this day, I still see some of those kids I had in my class, I love seeing them grow up.  But real talk here: I’ve been SUPER adamant for YEARS about not wanting children. I love my friends kids. I love my niece & nephew more than life itself. But I do not need, nor do I want, my own kids. Contrary to what folks think- women are not obligated to have children.

Also, when the hell did it become okay to ask women about their reproductive system? I mean, am I supposed to be flattered that you spend so much time caring what I do with my body? I don’t know when manners flew completely out the window, but this stuff is not cool. The fact is: I don’t want kids because I don’t want them & the fact that anyone thinks I owe them an explanation is mind-boggling. And then there’s the “OHH you’re going to change your mind. Just you wait, you’ll change your mind!”. Actually, no I won’t, but thanks for putting your nose into business that doesn’t concern you! 

 

Weekend Shenanigans

It has been a whirlwind of a weekend! I'm finally having some down time, so obviously I'm using that time to watch one of my all-time fave movies - "Beaches". I'm really not in the mood to cry, so I don't know why I'm watching...sigh.

I hope everyone had a fabulous Valentines....I'm pretty sure I had the two cutest Valentines dates ever!

The kids & I went to see the Lego Movie & dinner - and then because Aunt Nicole is such a sucker, in their Valentines bags this year I put Target gift cards, sooooo we wound up at Target at the end of the night to let them shop. Love, Love, Love these kids - it doesn't get any better than having a night out with them.

Kadin LOVED The Lego Movie - Paige & I thought it was kind of lame. It's getting such rave reviews, I was really surprised we didn't like it! It had a few funny spots, but it just didn't hold my attention, which was such a bummer, I really wanted it to. Great cast, and a great concept - at one point Paige leaned over and said "This is the most bored I've ever been in the movies before!". Kadin, meanwhile, was in total HEAVEN. 

Saturday was all about celebrating! Larry's oldest son turned the big 1-4 this weekend! I'm so glad he's able to come out with all of us often. I've watched him grow up into such a wonderful young man - full of so much talent & potential! I just know his future is going to be bright, and so glad I'll be able to tell everyone I knew him way back when ;) 

Christian picked dinner & a movie, so it was deja vu -- but I'm pretty much at the movies every weekend, right!? He picked Vampire Academy, which is definitely a good movie for his age group.

All these kids are growing up way too fast....I really need to stop time! (And I say this right after we scheduled the appointment for Paige to get her license. Sigh. Aunt Nicole isn't ready for this!)

Clothes, Clothes, Clothes...

It's only Tuesday, and I'm already so ready for the end of the week to get here. I've got a hot date Friday night with the little man....is there anything cuter then the nephew being my Valentine? No, there isn't. LOVE.THAT.BOY.

My day looked something like this:

Mom had surgery this morning, so it was a morning of getting up at 3am. Yuck, Yuck, Yuck.  The horrors of getting up that early means Starbucks is not open yet! As I drove past the one closest to my mom's as I picked her up, I was so so sad it was only 4:30. However, my mom & I are pretty awesome - and she was ready when I arrived early, which means we had time to go by the one closest to the hospital. The first customers, I was oh so happy to pull up to the window....until I heard "Our registers are not functioning properly quite yet".  The barista must have sensed my desperation & said "So I'm just going to let you have your latte, I hope you have a great day!" 

yes folks, my Starbucks addiction is ridiculous. I choose vanilla soy lattes over food sometimes. Don't judge me. 

Mom is doing great & her surgery went fabulously - thanks to all my amazing friends who called, emailed, text to check on her & see if we needed anything. I came home a bit ago to try & get some sleep (and thaw out, I'm pretty sure it was 2 degrees in her room), and her boyfriend will be with her for the night, while my sister gets Mama duty tomorrow. 

This meant I had a LOT of time on my hands this morning in waiting rooms. Which translates into after I watched shows - I did a lot of pinterest perusing, namely for clothes. Why, you ask? Because what finally happened last week? George Strait tickets, that's what! My excitement for this show is through the roof -- I am so so so excited we get to see his final tour! The bestie & I are always into getting new outfits, but we decided it was imperative for this! Enter pinterest...(thanks to the twin cousin.."Maybe we should pin some options, I feel like I need to be involved in this decision" - what would I do without the bestie & the twin cousin?!)

Anyway, I'm digging these inspirations or color schemes, now it's time to go do a little shopping!

....except I'm 99% sure I won't be rocking heels this show....I DO want to see Strait, not kill myself walking into the show. We do remember how accident prone I am! 

Sunday Social time....

I worried about the snow forecast, and what do we have on the ground? Nooooothing. Everyone is so disappointed - except me, that is! I think I might be the only person in town that is thrilled that Nashville is always "on the line" & rarely gets the white stuff? This let me do my session this morning with zero problems -- except freezing my ass off!

This weeks Sunday Social is sooo right up my alley....it's all about TV/Movies!

1. What is your favorite thing to watch on a girls night?It really depends on what we're in the mood for! However, a big hit on girls night with my bestie is Dolly's "Straight Talk"! 

2. What is your favorite thing to watch on your day off?It depends on if something is on or not! My shows are on hiatus right now, so I've been re-watching Once Upon a Time & Scandal earlier seasons or re-watching Army Wives on most of my days off right now! BUT....if I happen to catch Snapped on or turn on the ID channel - it's all over, that's all I'm going to watch all day....

3. What is your favorite thing to watch when you're sick?
Friends or Golden Girls - forever the greatest show ever made. I know it drives my brother in law NUTS that my sister & I constantly quote them verbatim. I watch them at some point every day!

4. What is the last movie you saw in the theater?Dallas Buyers Club, absolutely fabulous!!

5. What are your top three favorite movies or tv shows?
Movies: Steel Magnolias, Beaches, Something Borrowed
TV Shows on now: Once Upon a Time, Scandal, Downton Abbey