Merry Christmas from my family!  This was the card we sent out this year, using some of the photos that my dear friend Erin, of Erin Vournas Photography, gave us.  It was a folded card, so the bottom image was the inside spread, and it folded on the left edge.  I think this cards is one of my faves! 

I had a special location planned for a mini session with them in their costumes the day before Halloween, but Cohen woke up crabby from his nap, so it didn’t happen.  Probably for the best because that would have meant we’d deal with two major meltdowns.  We knew once he saw this costume there was no way it was coming off, and we were right!  Before that meltdown, though, we had so much fun.  We took the kids into town to trick or treat, and they had a blast.  Cohen walked up the sidewalks repeating over and over, “Happy Halloween!  Happy Halloween!  Happy Halloween!”  On and on, in his tiny little voice.  It was adorable.  Rory was running from house to house, with pure excitement.  And it was seriously the most beautiful night.  Not usual Halloween weather for North Dakota, that’s for sure.

Anyway, here are some photos in front of our house before all the excitement began.

Oh, and this face?  That’s what you get when you tell him, “No candy!”  He has such a mean mom!

Everyday Art Photography | Bismarck, ND children’s photographer 

I did get this one iPhone photo of Rory and Cohen, and I love it.

I didn’t get a photo of the real invites (see, I’m a slacker), but here’s the digital version.  Loved how these turned out!  Perfect for our beachy theme.

A banner for the birthday boy and girl!

They each had their own cake, and both were delicious!

Of course, we had to serve sand cups with gummy sharks.

And these amazing push up cupcakes!  Aren’t these SO cute?  A huge hit with the kids.

It was a huge coincidence that Target happened to have all sorts of summer supplies in the perfect colors to match our theme.  We didn’t even plan it that way.  Now, if only we had purchased them two weeks later when it was all 50% off.  You can’t always win, I guess!

We made custom beach themed coloring books for each of the kids’ favor buckets.

The taco-in-a-bag was also a hit with all the guests!

What a fun party!  I’m so glad we got to celebrate Cohen and Emma turning two with everyone.  And now, after a party in May, June, and July…I’m partied out for awhile!

Everyday Art Photogaphy | Bismarck, North Dakota famly photography

It doesn’t take him long to move onto the next thing, though.  He can climb up to get on the slide all by himself and he can even land on his feet at the bottom!  His perfect landings are usually accompanied by a big, “TA DA!” which is just one of a million adorable things he does in a day.  I just love his big personality, stubbornness and all, and hearing him repeat every word we say to him now, is so fun and exciting.  You never know what he will say next!

He’s such a big boy now!  And the count down to two is officially on.  Less than a month to go…

So to begin, here are the photos from 2009, 2010, and 2011…

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter!  I am just hoping for one that does not involve snow!

On Thursday evening, we were out at a local furniture store, and Cohen tripped on a rug, which launched him directly into the corner of a padded ottoman.  I didn’t think much of it because this kind of thing happens all the time with him, but  then I heard Josey say, “It’s bleeding!”  I was not expecting that.  Thank goodness we were the only ones in the store because I’m sure we caused quite a scene.  The mini first aid kit I had put in my car over two years ago came in handy, for sure.  Poor guy.  Lots of blood, tears, and band aids later, it seems to be healing pretty well now.

In other news, he is starting to really talk a lot more and it is so much fun hearing him repeat our words in his tiny little voice..  On this day, we were playing “peeeeee doh.”  He’s a little banged up, but that doesn’t take anything away from his sweet little face.

These are Oreo dipper things with scrapbooking paper wrapped around them.

Of course, Rory Jean wanted nothing to do with my ideas.  So, we ended up going to Target and I just let her pick out three things of her choice to put in her treat bags.  She LOVES Tootsie Rolls, so that was no surprise, and then she picked out some mini card games and Blow Pops as her other two things.  I’ll share more of the images from the mini session I did for the images on her cards tomorrow!

Some photos of her addressing some of her cards.  She is getting so good at writing her letters!  This weekend, I spent a couple hours in my office getting my things together for my taxes, and she spent the entire time in here with me.  She had a pile of paper, various pens and crayons, scissors, and two paper punches and she went to town! 

In the last month, we’ve finally made a break through, and he now has several more teeth.  I am not even sure how many now, they all seemed to have come in at once.  I didn’t think it would ever happen!  He has also become pretty talkative, and while maybe we are the only ones who understand him, he is trying hard to master his words.  He likes making animal sounds, his favorite being a big raaawrrr for lions, bears, and dinosaurs (you’ll see)!  Every night at bed time, he climbs up in Rory’s bed with her to give her a big hug and kiss, which not only melts my heart, but Rory’s, too.  She loves it!  And, knock on wood, he has willingly gone to bed in his crib on his own for the first time the last two nights.  I have been putting this milestone off because I love rocking him, and I’ve worried it was going to be an event full of tears, which has worried me, considering his sister needs to get her sleep, too.  But he surprised me.  There were no tears, and it was not that painful at all.  Let’s hope it continues!

His Uncle Zachie gave him these slippers.  I’d say he loves them; right?  He will wear these all day long if you let him; sweaty feet and all!

This weekend, we were house-bound due to a stomach bug Cohen was dealing with, so Rory and I spent nap time playing.  And I’m not sure which one of us had more fun.  This girl is so silly, I think you could see her tonsils in half of the images I shot.  I LOVED  them all, and had a hard time deciding where to stop editing.

This week, we have an informational meeting at the school to talk about kindergarten enrollment.  Oh my gosh.  There is no way she is going to kindergarten this year?!  By the way…she picked out her outfit for these.  This is her favorite shirt at the moment, and it is currently sitting in the laundry room as I try to get a chocolate milk stain out of it.  Let’s hope I can get it out!

I think this was a “do I get my sucker yet?” look.

I’m not even going to tell you what was cracking her up so much.  Let’s just say, boys are not the only ones who think gross things are funny.

Next weekend’s mission is to get some photos of Cohen.  I never thought it would happen, but the child actually has teeth these days.